What Lucy is up to at almost 19 months

Lucy is up to all sorts of new tricks at the moment. She is evermore physically confident and her vocabulary has come on so quickly, it's really helping her explore new games and parts of her personality. Here is a round-up of what she is doing at the moment...

• Vocab - I have been noting down her most used words these past few days and she has almost 60 under her belt now. From the early ones, 'baby' and 'bye bye', to her newer words 'hummus', 'pushchair' and 'elbow'. That list of 60 doesn't even include the odd word she will mimic then not say on a regular basis, so she's really a little chatterbox and all the reading and listening she does is helping on the talking front. Her first phrase is 'Daddy's car' and she just starting saying Lucy Alice...ahhh!


• Books - she's always been a fan of books - looking at them, turning pages and being read to. Now she has started reading to us! She points to the page and makes noises, says words and makes hand gestures as she flicks the pages while we watch.Very cute


• Mothering - she is definitely a girl when it comes to dolls and soft toys. Recently her dolls have become 'babies' rather than just objects, and she loves wheeling them around in her doll pushchair and taking them to bed with her. We got her a toy baby bottle for Easter which she loves using to feed them. She also loves a stuffed Ernie from Sesame Street, and pushes him around, and kisses and cuddles him


• Affections - Being showered with kisses and cuddles from day one has definitely rubbed off on her and she now loves to return the gestures to Joe and I, and also to her friends, her dolls and even blows kisses at workmen and people we meet in the street!
• Daddy - she is so into her Daddy these days she often asks for him throughout the day. Every red car or convertible car she sees she shouts 'Daddy's car!'. Bless


• Socialising - she loves it. It doesn't matter whether she's with kids her own age, older kids, adults or animals, she wants to be with others. She will plough into a group of older kids and try to join in at the park or at Longwood without batting an eye, and she'll wave and flirt with adults at home or when we're out and about. She has tamed a little when some strangers, or even friends, approach us or visit - sometimes shying away until she has got used to them


• Toddler tantrums - they have begun, and (I mainly) have the pleasure of dealing with tantrums anything from 5 times a day to a very relieving one or none if the day is going well. Mostly around independence issues - wanting something that she isn't allowed to play with, not being allowed to eat cake and biscuits whenever she wants - not getting her way basically. Most of the time it's because she's tired due to lack of sleep, so thankfully that is controllable to a degree. It's a challenge though - getting the balance right between discipline and standing my ground, and being sensitive to her roller coaster emotions and lack of ability to control them at times

My Dad and his fiancee Jeanne are arriving for a two week visit on Saturday so we have been preparing Lucy for their arrival. We've shown her photos of Grandad and Mamie Jeanne throughout the day and told her about them staying in the bedroom opposite hers. The other morning she came down to breakfast and pointed at Jeanne's picture and immediately said 'Mamie'. I am looking forward to having a chance to have grandparents around to help and give Lucy lots of attention and maybe some French lessons ;-)