Happy Birthday, Lucy

Dear Lucy,

Today you are 3 years old.

Let’s let that sink in.

You are so different than you were just a year ago. Now at age 3, you seem like such a big girl. Even the world seems to be saying that 3 is an important age – a whole new world of art projects, games, and activities starts at “3 and up.” You seem up for the challenge.

Physically, you are still a big, tall girl. You like to say to people, “wanna see how big I am?” and then stand up to show them. Your hair still garners lots of comments, from “where did you get that blonde hair?” to “I would kill for that hair!” Your little curls and waves have stayed, and we’re trying to get your bangs to catch up with the length in the back. You will tolerate barrettes but rare is the day you will wear a ponytail, even though you look so cute in one. Most of the time your hair is a little crazy but truthfully, that seems to suit you, so I don’t force it! Your dimples are one in a million and one of your daddy’s most prominent signatures on your face. Otherwise, this year you have really started to look a lot like your mama. You love your skirts and girly-girl things, but I also find plenty of rocks and pinecones in your pocket. I love it!

You are always on the move. It’s hard to keep up sometimes! You adore the outdoors, whether it’s kicking a ball around or helping water the flowers. You’re still getting the hang of pedaling your tricycle, but by the end of the summer you’ll be a pro. Inside, you often beg us to “just play.” You like blocks, cars, stuffed animals and dolls, and dressing up. Your time in preschool has really amplified your love of coloring, and you also like to paint and draw on your chalkboard. Your drawing has taken on more purpose and your objects have started resemble the real thing.

For as much as you move, you will sit still for a movie. The DVDs we have watched most often are Tangled, Monsters, Inc., Lilo and Stitch, and The Lion King. The Sound of Music has even gotten a few spins. For awhile you were requesting a movie every night, but we’ve tried to steer you away from that (easier now that it’s nice and we can be outside), and have special movie times on the weekends. You also get to watch a little bit of the preschool channel “Sprout” in the morning and sometimes before bed. For all this exposure you certainly have characters you like, but you aren’t too attached to any one. I kind of like that. We’ve got a lifetime of Disney princesses and Dora crazes ahead; it’s good to keep your options open.

You are always talking, and you speak pretty clearly and use lots of words for your age. You are so smart! You are curious about everything and I have seen some creativity emerge, where your stories are not just about what you know, but what you imagine. You love music and are a sweet little singer – you can actually carry a tune and it’s very adorable! You are funny and clever and stubborn and sassy and did I say stubborn? You certainly know how to test us, and I think you are a little bit caught between being a big girl and wanting to do things for yourself, and still wanting mommy and daddy to do things for you. I can understand, little girl, because I’m caught in that same place myself. I want you to be independent and self-reliant, but sometimes I long for the little one who is most content in her mama’s lap. You are just growing up so fast…but you’re still pretty free with those hugs and kisses, so I’ll take them all while you’re still offering. You are amazing, and Daddy and I are so lucky to have you.

Love you,
Mama

"Big"  Birthday Party

On Sunday we had family over to celebrate Lucy's birthday. We ate lunch, opened gifts, had cake and ice cream, and tried to beat the 90+ degree heat and humidity. Lucy got lots of clothes for her birthday this year, in fact lots of people shopped at the same place and picked very accurately items that were "so Lucy..." so we had a few duplicates, which was very funny.  However, I think the biggest hit was the new Barbie and convertible from Auntie Marcey and Uncle Haver.

For weeks (maybe even months) this girl has been saying she is having "chocolate cake with chocolate frosting" for her birthday. I was struggling to come up with some sort of theme to go with the very brown edibles. About three days before the party, I decided to theme the party loosely after one of her favorite books "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." For those of you unfamiliar, it's an Eric Carle book about a caterpillar who hatches and is very hungry, and it chronicles all the things he eats on the different days of one week, ending with him building a cocoon and crawling out as a beautiful butterfly. On Saturday, he eats a bunch of junk food and gets a stomachache, and one of those foods is chocolate cake. I didn't go too far with the theme because honestly it was probably lost on this mostly-adult crowd (and I didn't have much time!) but I was able to get a couple of cute things done.

All in all, it was a good party and it was great to see family and give Lucy a chance to play with her little girl cousin. Thanks to Husband for acting as head caterer, and to my parents for staying up late with me to make cake pops!

Inspiration for this banner was from here, and I made a couple
of my own modifications. Turned out really cute!

I ordered a chocolate cake from Target, and added some sprinkles and cake pops to make a caterpillar,
as well as some strawberries (notice the holes because he "ate" through them!

Here you can see how we added the pops.

A better pic of the cake pops, pre-cake. I got the idea here and followed the tutorial.

"Little" Birthday Party

I decided I wasn't ready to wander into the realm of a kid's party this year, so we just had a special playdate with Lucy's best buddy, Nathan. We described it to her as a "little" birthday party, with the "big" birthday party with family tomorrow.

We went to a place called Kiddywampus, where the kids got a tray of art supplies and could go to town for an hour. They had a lot of fun (and made a big delightful mess that someone else could clean up) and afterwards we came to our house for lunch and birthday cupcakes. It's nice for Lucy to have such a special pal!

Uncle Bob

My Uncle Bob, that is. Lucy's great-uncle. We were lucky enough to have him visit lastnight. I think they both had a lot of fun!

Dress from the Past

This sweet little dress was found in one of the trunks at my grandparent's house when my dad and his siblings were going through things. Nobody claimed it, so my dad brought it home for Lucy. It was a little big at the time, but as we prepared for a trip to Storm Lake last weekend, I brought it out hoping it might fit. It's still a little big on top, but it was just fine to wear to church on Sunday. When we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, I had her pose in the yard.

Ta-da!! :)

Mother's Day Mixed Bag

Today was a wonderful, mostly relaxing day...but Lucy had a few surprises in store.

First of all, a very early wake-up call [5:30]. Eventually Husband was able to get her to watch a movie with him and I could go back to bed for awhile. Then at a more reasonable time [8:00], I was gently awakened by "Mommy, we made breakfast for you! Wanna come sit by me?" Very nice.

At church, while Lucy was up for the children's sermon where they were talking about best friends, she blurted out "Nathan is my best friend!" and then later, "my grandma is in heaven with Jesus" which brought tears to our eyes and gave Husband a little gift on this day of missing his mom. What a sweetheart. But then, about 20 minutes later when she would not be quiet during the sermon and I asked her to please talk in a quiet voice, she took my face in her hands and said loud enough for many adjacent rows to hear, "you don't talk to me like that!" So I exercised my right as a mom and toted that belligerent tot right out of the sanctuary.

The rest of the day involved picking out flowers, planting flowers while she was down for a nap, then laying down to take my own nap just in time to hear her call for me. She was up, she was down, she was wild, she was calm...I was frustrated, I was excited, I was angry, I was delighted...

But that's just part of my job description, right?

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring Program

Tonight Lucy's school had its spring program. It was a barnyard theme, and each of the different classes were dressed as different animals - cows, ducks, and pigs for the preschoolers, and ducks for the toddlers. Lucy was a very adorable cow. The program was pretty cute, all farm animal-themed songs, some traditional ("Old MacDonald") and some created especially for the program ("We are the Cows," to the tune of "The Adams Family"). Grandpa Lee, Marcey, Candy, and Hayley all came to watch.

Lucy was pretty matter-of-fact about it all; not cracking many smiles. She sang everything, but for the first song she had her fingers in her mouth. One of the directors said she was leading the singing all week in practice, but I guess she was feeling a little shy at the program! She also took the cow costume off pretty quickly afterwards, so I couldn't get a very good photo. But a fun time was had by all!

Happy Birthday, Betty


Today would have been my mother-in-law's birthday. We celebrated by spreading her ashes in her flower gardens at home and at the cemetery where her parents are buried.


In this springtime, my grief for her loss bubbles to the surface, because so much of what she taught me was about flowers. I see her in our yard, because a lot of the flowers we have were taken from her plants. I see her in Lucy who loves to find the birds and inspect which flowers are coming up next. I see her in the cardinal that chatters at Brett outside the basement window.


Betty, you are missed.

Lucy and Betty in our front yard, June 2010.