Lucy is 2!

My sweet baby girl turned 2 today! I can't believe it. Two years has flown by....and I hear they only go by faster the older they get. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, brilliant, and vibrant daughter. She is such a joy and I am daily in awe that the Lord chose us to be her family.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart"

This verse in Jeremiah means more to us now than I ever thought it could. Lucy is truly a miracle and I thank our Heavenly Father for her every day.

A few things I want to remember about Lucy at this age:

- She knows the entire alphabet already. She can recognize and pronounce every letter. She has to be prompted or reminded on about 4 or 5 of them, but otherwise she knows all her letters. We are just starting to work on colors, and so far everything is either "mink" or "bloo" :)

- She has the most infectious laugh you've ever heard. Ask anyone.

- She gets more excited about new clothes than new toys. A girl after my own heart :)

- She is VERY obedient for her age. I am impressed with how well she obeys. Her downfall is her attitude WHILE obeying. She will obey, but she always lets me know that she is not happy about it.

- She has gotten very good about saying "please" without being prompted. I still have to remind her to say "thank you", "yes ma'am" and "yes sir", but she says them well.

- She is strong willed, independent, but VERY loving and affectionate. She loves to kiss, hug, and be held. Although the days of snuggling are quickly becoming boring to her.

- She is a girl on the move.....as most two year olds are.

- She takes about a 3 hour nap every day, and sleeps about 11 hours at night. We moved her to a toddler bed about 3-4 months ago and I could not have anticipated a smoother transition. She stays in her bed until one of us come in to get her when she wakes up. She often sings or talks herself to sleep at night in her bed. It's the sweetest sound.

- Her hair is getting curlier and curlier.

- She is tall for her age and has already grown out of some 2T clothes...but 3T clothes are still huge.

- She speaks in little mini sentences now, and is a parrot. She will repeat whatever you say.

- She bosses Heidi around, and frequently tells her "no", "hop it" and "place heyee!!"

- She is in a mommy stage right now. But we all know how quickly that can change.

- Mark and I noticed the other day that she no longer calls us "mama" and "dada" but says "mommy" and "daddy" now.

- The girl eats any and everything. She is the best eater. So far the only thing we have found that she said "I no like" to is coleslaw. And to be fair, it wasn't Chick Fil A's coleslaw, so I wouldn't like it either :)

- She has really gotten into imaginative play, and has tea parties with her stuffed animals, calls people on her phone, and talks to and feeds her doll.

- Her attachment object at the moment is a bear my Mimi gave her, which she named "Mama Blue"

- She loves books and loves to "read" them by herself or be read to.

- She still loves Elmo, but actually calls him "Elmo" now instead of "Lala". I really limit the amount of tv she watches, but when she does get to watch it, Sesame Street and Shrek are her constant requests.

Lucy you are such a joy and we are so blessed to be your parents! Happy Birthday sweet girl!