Lucy latest

Lucy is now 13 months going on 13 years.

Lucy has a thing for shoes. They are normally lined up in front of the fireplace. This evening she collected them one pair at a time and brought them over to me, sitting down in my lap before handing them to me to put them on. Then we'd take them off and try the next pair. Imelda Marcos, look out!

Lucy has a thing for chairs. She will climb on and off them for ages, especially if Daddy will help with the "getting off" part.

We bought a slide for Oliver at around 20 months (the start of his second summer) and for the first few days or weeks stood over him making sure he didn't fall. This same slide was conquered by Lucy on Saturday! I was alarmed to see her get herself onto the first step unaided, but didn't imagine she would go higher as the next steps had a bigger gap and at a steep angle. How wrong I was! As I stood over her I watched her scale the whole thing then position herself at the top ready to slide down. Consequently the slide is currently lying on its side in the garden to keep her at bay.

She isn't sleeping the best at the moment. We end up going in to her a couple of time a night at least. Sometimes she settles herself, but often her first cry is so piercing that one of us bolts out of bed automatically. Most times she settles straight away. Last night I found she had put her arm through the bars of her cot and then couldn't wriggle it back out again. We've also had a couple of times when she doesn't want to go to sleep and when left will scream at length, only to be happy as Larry when the light is turned on and wanting to get up and play.

Lucy only has two moods: angelic and demonic. When demonic she will scream her standard ear-shattering scream, whether it be because someone is standing on her hands or because she was given the wrong cup. To be fair she also has a whingey frustrated cry which she does when not carried around on demand. And finally she has a whiny whimper which she is currently making at any adult who speaks to her barring me and Hayley. Having said that, she is mostly angelic.

Lucy is a full-on toddler now. There's no stopping her. Yesterday at the Christening she loved getting around the room on her own and clearly considered her self "just another three year old" as she chased around after balloons with them.

The little lady can eat for England. She regularly out-consumes Oliver at mealtimes. I don't know where she puts it all. Well I do actually: in her hair! She loves putting things on her head and food is certainly not excluded.

Lucy is a little Hayley. "Hayley v2.0", if you like. She not only looks like her Mummy but also sticks out her tongue when concentrating and now is starting to get her curly hair too.

She has started to go and get books and then come back and sit on my knee for me to read them. It's adorable.

Over the summer Lucy's hair has become more and more fair. Quite a contrast to her very dark hair of the first few months. She now has golden locks which are starting to curl as they grow longer. Along with her beautiful blue eyes and cheeky face, I think she's just a little cutie.

Best of all she is a very affectionate little girl, not only to her parents but also to her brother and even other children. Throw in the fact that she likes to tease us, play peekaboo and even torment her brother by stealing his toys (taking one and then waiting for his reaction!) and you have just about the cutest daughter I could imagine.