70 degrees in January

The title sums up how awesome colorado is and how awesome of a day Lucy and I had. 

Started with the botanic gardens. 

 

 This was my view of lucy playing for a good 20 minutes. 

Sunshine is amazing!

We also spend two hours at the park!  I asked lucy to grab her hat... And she put it on all by herself (backwards). 

 
I'm so grateful to spend so much time with Lucy. She is such a light and beautiful soul. 
 
 

 

Lucy's loves babies!

Woke up from a nap, needed her momma and 3 (!) babies! My arms were full!

 

a little bit of Lucy

 -Lucy loves her babies. She has three of them. She pretends to feed them, kisses them, gets them naked, and loves them deeply. Sometimes I have to rock Lucy and her babies to sleep, too cute. 

-Lucy is loving. She gives kisses, smiles, hugs and genuinely loves us. She is such a light in our lives as well as others. Lucy is different and I love it. I cherish and relish in the love she blessed other with. She kisses her Aunties/Uncles and Grandparents with ease. She also kisses animals in books and pictures of animals at the zoo. We are working on not kissing everything, but the love she gives is wonderful. 

 

-We made her a tent for Christmas and she loves it. She eats snacks in it, reads books inside of it, plays with toys, chases Asher thru it and fills it with laughter. 

 

-Lucy is busy. I wonder what her mind is thinking most of the day. She plays by herself and smiles, squeals, giggles and mimicks running or jumping with her toys. Her mind is a wonderful thing. Busy girl. We play with little people, then clean up and play with blocks, then clean up and play with her balls...on and on all day. 

 

-Lucy has been repeating words lately.  It is so cute to hear her try to say so many words. She has a huge vocabulary already, but she seems to be repeating more and more. 

 

-Lucy's sign language has exploded and I can't get enough of it. We know lots of animals and she is learning them as fast as I can teach them. Some of my favorites are penguin, rhino, and wolf. 

 

-Lucy eats all the time but not a lot at once. She is getting better at trying new food but usually pretends to try it and says mmmmm then say no thanks. She eats her staples...cheese, tortillas, yogurt, bread, berries, bananas, actually any fruit, raisins, nutrigrain bars...probably her weakest attribute is her finicky eating habits. I'm hoping it is a phase. We keep offering things and giving her a chance. Frustrating but I can't change anything. 

 

-I love this little girl so much. I had no idea how much motherhood would change me. I have more respect for my mother and all mothers. Being a momma to this beautiful little lady is such a blessing. It is wonderful to watch her grow and discover the world on her own. I can't believe the way she can tug at my heart and melt me. I hope to help give Lucy direction, discipline and live a life worth modeling. I hope she always knows that I love her and will love her unconditionally. 

 

sledding!

Dave and I took Lucy to the park and went sledding. It was only 1 degree outside but she loved it!

 

snow day

Lucy wasn't very happen in her snowsuit... Christmas Story ring a bell?

But she asked to go to the park and enjoyed swinging once she got over the initial shock of walking while looking like   a pink-marshmallow-oompa-loompa 
 

 

 
 

Merry Christmas!

Seasons Greetings friends and family,

 We hope this letter finds you well and that 2014 was a year of good health and great joy.  For the Otten clan it has been a year of growth and fun.

 Gwen continues to work as a respiratory therapist. She has cut back on her hours since going back to work and has enjoyed the opportunity to spend most days home with Lucy. She also has run three half marathons.

Lucy has changed dramatically over the past year. She is now a walker, a talker, and an opinionated young girl. Watching her grow has been such a blessing to us both. She loves animals, going to the park, reading, listening to music and dancing, and being naked! She has a sweet heart and loves a good snuggle and kisses. She is a good sleeper and listener. She is a very good communicator between her sign language and large vocabulary for a 13 month old. She seems to get smarter on a daily basis. Being parents has been a truly incredible experience and we look forward to seeing Lucy’s continued growth.

 Lucy and her parents had other fun opportunities in 2014. Lucy was a good traveler during our trips to Phoenix, Charlotte, and Steamboat Springs. She enjoyed numerous camping, hiking, and fishing trips. She cheered her mom and dad on from the sidelines of numerous Ultimate Frisbee games.  Dave is in the midst of his third year of emergency medicine residency. As expected, he continues to spend a ridiculous amount of time at work, but generally finds it rewarding. He has taken on a more senior role in the department and has enjoyed the greater autonomy and the opportunity to supervise and teach other residents and students.

We hope that 2014 was good to you, and we pray that 2015 will be even better.  

Merry Christmas! 

  Love,

  David, Gwen, and Lucy

officially a walker

Oh my goodness, my baby is gone. Lucy is now a toddler and a full blown walker. 

 

She has been walking for about a month now, but this past week she walked around 3/4 of the zoo (by herself!). No hand holding or help from mom and dad. I feel like she is so much bigger now that she is officially walking more than being held or crawling. Crazy!