Happy Birthday Lucia Therese!

This post is much belated because Lucy's birthday was actually last month but things have been busy so I say "better late than never." Am I right?

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. My baby girl is now two years old. No longer a baby! It is amazing how the remaining "babyish" things about her have slowly disappeared since the moment she woke up as a full-grown toddler. She used to require being rocked to sleep at night before being gently laid in her crib. Now, I can barely keep her contained since she has figured out both how to climb out of her crib and how to open her door. The last few nights, I have found her raiding my makeup drawer or trying to apply Paul's deodorant under her own little armpits.

The first time she learned to climb out, I had put her in her bed completely asleep. I tucked her in tightly, checked to make sure the other two were sleeping soundly, and then took the dog out for a walk. Paul was also outside finishing up mowing the lawn. Sometime between me leaving and Paul coming back inside, Lucy had woken up, figured out how to scale her crib, and headed to our bathroom to apply a little mascara. She dabbed a thick amount all around her eyelids and also got a big blob of it stuck in her hair. Then, she responsibly put the lid back on the mascara and put it back in my makeup bag. Then she decided she was hungry and headed downstairs. Now, we had gone strawberry picking earlier that day and I was working on washing and prepping the strawberries for freezing. There was a large bowl of them sitting on the counter and Lucy spied them, climbed up on a chair, and sat there eating strawberries to her hearts content. This is where Paul found her when he came back inside.

"Lucy, what are you doing up?" he asked her. Lucy just batted her eyelashes at him, showing off her handiwork.

She is quite the rascal but that is what I love about her. I simply adore her - her sense of humor, her stubbornness, her love of dancing and music, her adventurous nature. She fits right into this loud and crazy family of mine and I am so blessed that God gave her to us! Her kisses melt my heart, she squeezes so tight when she hugs that it nearly takes my breath away, and she loves nothing better than curling up in my lap to read a story. I will never tire of listening to her sing and dance to her favorite songs - particularly "Beauty and the Beast." Still trying to capture that on video. It's so adorable.

Lucy was very, very into her birthday this year. On the day she turned two, she slept in so she missed seeing her Dad leave for work. However, when she did finally awake, we served her favorite breakfast (yogurt) with a candle upright in the bowl. Not normally a morning person, she immediately perked up when we sang The Birthday Song to her - twice.

During the day, I just made sure to pay extra attention to her and hug her as often as I could. We danced and sang and watched a couple of her favorite Elmo's World episodes. I took her to the park in the late morning to meet with some friends and she loved that. We lunched at Panera and she ate her favorite Asiago Cheese bagel. I love this age because they take joy in everything. Lucy is also so very polite and always says when I surprise her with something delightful, "Thank you, Mommy!"

For dinner, we ate pizza because Lucy would eat that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let her. Of course, we had chocolate-chocolate cake for dessert along with generous scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Opening presents is such a hoot with a toddler. They struggle so much to rip open the boxes yet soldier onward despite the difficulties. Lucy was especially adamant about not accepting help from her more-than-willing siblings. She knew they were her gifts and she was going to open them! We got her some of the Llama Llama books to add to her collection (they are her favorite) as well as a toy talking bird and a bird cage to match the one Emma also received for her birthday. The girls have since played with them together many, many times. Lucy also received a purse and a couple musical books from her grandparents.

Matthew very sweetly spent his recess time at school making a gift for Lucy. He made her paper flower and then wrote a book for her. The book featured the flower and was all about the life cycle of a typical plant. The subject matter probably was a bit over Lucy's head, but she gleefully paged through the entire book and thanked Matthew for it earnestly. It pleased him so much.

She loved each and every gift she received. Have I mentioned how much I love this age?

The best part of the whole day was singing The Birthday Song to Lucy as often as possible. She loves that song so much and has been looking forward to it being her birthday ever since Matthew turned seven back in January. Each time we sang it, she would sway back and forth and chime in where she could while grinning from ear to ear, the happiest little girl in the world. When it came time for her to blow out her candles, she would blow just one of the three out and then stop and clap for herself before proceeding to blow out the next ones. It was adorable. Why can't she stay this little always?

Mommy and Daddy love you so much, Lucia, and we are so blessed to be your parents! We do apologize for giving you a name that everyone seems to mispronounce. We're also sorry that you share names with the Rottweiler down the street. But it fits you so well and I can't imagine my life without my little Lucy. Our hope is that even as you grow that you remain as sweet and as dear as you are today. Happy Birthday, Chunkles!