Happy Brithday, Lucy! (for real, this time)

Officially Two.

Too spoiled to be denied anything except maybe ice cream for breakfast. (But give her credit for this valiant effort: during her morning diaper change, when I asked, "Birthday girl, what would you like for breakfast?" Lucy responded immediately, "Ice cream." Naturally. What else does one eat on the morning of one's birthday? We had Cheerios. When I poured them and set them on her tray she said "Cheer-o's! Then cake." This was all completely unprovoked. Neither "ice-cream" nor "cake" had slipped from my lips. Lucy is obviously becoming acquainted with the nature of birthdays.)

The breakfast denial was soon forgotten in the wake of Blog posts, e-cards (thanks everyone!), "lots-a-twos!" to hang around the house (see above picture and give credit to my older sister who began this tradition with her kids), and friends galore!




Given the excitement of the day, Lucy was entirely too energized to remain STILL for any of the day's diaper changes (roll over, stand up, dance around, get put back down, roll over, stand up, dance around....), or any of the day's prayers (unless we told her it was a 'special birthday prayer.' Then she was all there. Amazing the power of that word "special"). And in accord with her new two-year-old status, was entirely too grown up to hold hands when walking down stairs, or to receive ANY help to mount a new...

Tricycle! Her exclamations of "Self! Self!" were soon followed by "Likes-her-bike!" "Like-her-bike!" (Mom and Dad "Likes-her-bike" too because it was half price at Target!)

And was this all? No, no. Lucy dined in two-year-old style on her most favorite dinner (mac and cheese, broccoli, and grapes)... Enjoyed a special bubble bath courtesy of daddy (who is the bath guy in our house. Bless him!), and was charmed by Kevin Hankes' Chrysanthemum before bed. Is it any wonder that she was too wound-up to fall asleep, and chose, instead, to sing "birthday-to-you" and other unmelodious, unidentifiable renditions for over an hour after being put to bed? No. Did we mention too spoiled?

Ah, but as I've breathed in this day - watching, loving, and thinking about this girl:

I can't help remembering this girl:

Or the mother and father that welcomed her to life two years ago today.

They had no idea what they were in for.

No idea of the difficulty or the delight that would ensue over the coming two years. They were overwhelmed and overtired. I remember that new dad feeding that new mom bites of hospital-made-cheese-cake in the middle of the night while "On Our Own," (ironic) played on the hospital-room TV. They communicated quietly - fearful of waking the small being that had terrorized them with screams for the last several hours. They tried to smile and to laugh (quietly) and to forget how exhausted they were.

I love that memory! And now our too-independent-to-be-removed-from-her-bed-unless-she's-ready-to-be-removed two year old sleeps consistently through the night and has filled these past two years with such needed happiness and hope.

This post is absolutely too long. And yet nothing is captured. Nothing of the feelings that make my soul yearn to slow down time. I wouldn't have wished to slow down time two years ago when I was a fretting and frustrated brand new mother - and during some of the two-year-old times to come, I may still regret the wish. But oh, how fleeting is life!

I am grateful to know that these memories and relationships that I hold so dear will linger for longer than a life time. And that's a story for another post.