Happy Birthday, my dear! Wow that was fast. This is the last of the weekly pictures, but I’m sure there will be lots more photographs of you and your siblings over the years. You’re going to be walking in a week or two, I feel pretty sure. You enjoyed the heck out of your birthday party. This is just one picture from your epic cupcake demolition. The whole set of your birthday pictures is over on Flickr.

The blog is a dying medium, and everything gets put on Facebook or Instagram or whatever the hot social network of the day happens to be. So I’m now fragmenting my updates and most pictures will be on Flickr and Facebook. Mostly Flickr. Because I’m old-school. But keeping with tradition, all future photos of Lucy will be marked as “friends and family only.” If you want to keep up with the kids on flickr, make sure you get a Yahoo! ID and get me to add you as a friend.

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 53.

Wait, what? 52? Is that right? Holy cow, I must have miscounted. Nope, that’s right. Week 52. We’ll get a bonus Week 53 next week on your birthday (or the day of your party – close enough). You are standing like a champ, and even looking to take teeny tiny steps. Within a week or two you’ll be running around terrorizing all the people and animals that you are now crawling around terrorizing. You’re terrorism will simply become more efficient. Wow. This year has flown by!

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 52.

Lucy, you’re starting to do a bunch of free-standing. You’ll pull off of the furniture and clap and clap like you’re the cutest thing ever. And you’re pretty darn close, but you have two siblings who at your age would give you a run for your money. You’re also starting to play more interactively with me, and you’re starting to give hugs and “kisses”. The kisses are nice full mouth slobbers to whoever is silly enough to accept it.

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 51.

Lucy, you’re starting to stand up without any assistance or holding on to anything. And you LOVE the bath. Of all our kids, I think you enjoy it the most at this age. You will SPLASH and SPLASH and heaven help whoever is on bath duty that night, because they’re coming out WET.

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 50.

What a happy girl you are, most of the time. Just not at night. No, you’re not really a big fan of sleeping. You just want to NURSE all night long. In fairness, you’ve been teething and then sick and sick again, and good grief it’s always something with you! More sleep training coming soon!

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 49.

We were at Liam Collins’ 6th birthday party when this was taken. It was CHILLY.

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 48.

Keeping with the theme of ridiculous faces, this is one of the more spectacular that you like to make.

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 47.

While this isn’t the best picture in the world, it captures one of the fabulously ridiculous faces that you love to make. You love to bare your teeth at me as if I was your next meal. Yes, it is somewhat unsettling. You’re not in quite as much of a hurry to move around as your older sister was, at she was just starting to stand at week 46, but that’s likely because you’re doing a fine job terrorizing everybody with just your mad crawling skills. If we put you down, we’d better make sure the gates are closed, choking hazards are up, and bathroom doors (you LOVE bathrooms) are also closed.

Simon (left) and Mary (right) at Week 46.