Happy Birthday to Lucy, who, by the way, wants cake NOW!

Hello, amazing two-year-old girl.

A few weeks ago, you heard a word that really resonated with you: "now." You snatched it up immediately and have tied it to the tail of every statement ever since.  You love your new word. It works for you. 

You want Mommy now.

You want to draw now.

You want to blow bubbles now. 

You want to go outside now. 

You want to put boots on now. 

You want berries now.  

You want to read that book now.

You are very smart and direct. You put it all out there on the table, in case someone might ambiguously interpret your requests as just general desires to be experienced, you know, whenever. That is not the case! What do you want?  Yogurt. When do you want it? Now!

Okay, but just so you know, sometimes we can't have everything we want "now." Wait, where are you going? Lucy!

I want to go to the playground NOW!

Actually, we don't engage in "reasoning" with two-year-olds. But we are working on adding a certain nice word that starts with "p" to all of your "now" statements. You've already got "thank you" down. It's a very sweet habit and I hope you'll keep it up. You used to say, "Thank you, Mama" all the time. Now you say, "Thank you, Bess." Smarty pants! 

You love drawing, painting, doing puzzles, playing with tiny doll house people (you call them "guys"), building with blocks, building train tracks, and reading books. You love music, especially drums and piano. You love to dance and to imitate people. You love to learn.  You're learning colors (currently, you say everything is red). You love pastels and crayons, but your favorite things to draw with are the bright, fruit-scented markers that don't wash off. They're definitely fun. Sometimes I allow you to tattoo yourself with washable markers. But today you wanted to tattoo your brother and me and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. After giving you a warning, I had to draw the line and take away the markers.  

Sometimes your brother likes to draw with you. Sometimes he bites the crayons and dumps the whole container on the floor. You say, "No no, E-bow!" You boss him around a bit. You also like to groom him. You brush and shampoo his hair and to put lotion on his back. Before "E-bow"you used to call him "the baby."

You're a very creative kid! We didn't teach you how to hold a crayon. You watched and then did it yourself!  With the correct fingers and a whole lot of intent, you started drawing elaborate pictures at about 18 months old. We have a few of them hanging up. They're like crazy little squiggly Picassos. I love them!

You are starting to look like such a big girl!

You also like accessories. You have quite an eclectic collection. Necklaces, a headlamp, bracelets, helmets, goggles, hats, scarves, sunglasses and headbands. It doesn't surprise me that you like dress-ups. I assumed one or both of you might like sparkly princess things, because we tend to be opposites of our parents. Mommy liked The Hulk, Star Wars, and Transformers when she was little. I liked Cabbage Patch Kids and Barbies, but later, when it came to make-up and jewelry, I wasn't interested at all. When I was in high school, Nanny used to try to get me to go to "Glamour Shots" at the mall, where she worked at the time. She wanted me to have my face made-up, my hair curled, and my photo taken with a feathered boa or a bedazzled denim jacket. I rejected and ridiculed the whole concept. Then, at band camp (no joke), I chopped off my hair with some craft scissors. This was my Senior yearbook picture.

Okay, so that's Ringo Starr. But we had the same unibrow and mop top/bowl cut. Looking back, it's pretty embarrassing. Senior pictures are supposed to be a teenager's moment to capture him or herself at that quintessential young-adult age. But I guess it's my natural inclination to rebel against institutionalized expectations. But you don't have to!

Lucy! You can be whomever you want to be! If you like frilly dresses and sparkly shoes, you can have them. But you don't have to like pink or wear skirts just because you're a girl. Nor do you have to be a tomboy. You don't even have to play soccer (although I can hear your Mommy's voice right now saying, "yes she does."). I don't have to tell you any of this. You've got a strong will and have been feisty since the day you were born. You will be true to yourself no matter what we say.

I wonder how you'll react when you find out about Disney Princesses. Maybe you'll say, "The only one I really like is Mulan. She's the strongest female heroine. The rest of them are kind of pathetic. And don't get me started on the tokenization of Jasmine! " But maybe not. Like a lot of little girls, you might gravitate toward Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. We won't forbid you from watching those movies or reading those books, but you might have to put up with my feminist public service announcements in the middle.

Nanny gave you a few of her necklaces and a tiny antique bracelet. You love them. You also love boots. Any kind of boots. Snow boots, rain boots, black patent-leather boots.  You love running, jumping, dancing, climbing, and kicking around in boots.

Oh Lucy. I remember you being so tiny and fragile in the NICU. You were wide-eyed and squawking mouth and skinny, kicking legs. Now you're a big girl! You're strong and sturdy and smart and fierce and funny! You blow us away every day with the things you say and do! 

Trying to get Effram to hold your hand.

Trying to eat Effram's ice cream after you finished yours.

Lucy, you amaze me. You crack me up. You delight me. You terrify me. You are adored by so many people. Mommy and I love you so much and feel absolutely privileged to be your Moms! We are very proud of you and can't wait to get to know you more and more each day. Happy birthday to a spectacular little girl. Oh, and tomorrow, at your birthday party, you can have cake NOW!   

Love, Mama