One-Two, Buckle My Shoe

I realize it's several months after her birthday, but I needed to celebrate my little Lulu being 2! She continues to be fiery and passionate in every area of her life. The little poem about sugar and spice and everything nice was written about her. Especially the spice! Don't be fooled by that demure little face in the picture. If you ask her to make a face she will give you several poses displaying a wide range of emotions. All of you better get your picture taken with her because you will be able to say you knew her when she becomes a famous Broadway actress, a stand-up comedian, a race car driver, and the next Marie Curie.

She is incredibly independent. Her sister is two years older than her, yet she insists on doing everything her sister can do. "NO I DO IT!" is heard often around our house. She can put on her own socks, shoes, and pants using nothing but her own willpower, and the only time you will see her quietly focused for more than 30 seconds is when she's attacking the buttons on her sweater. She will either button that sweater herself or perish. She also potty-trained herself. I wasn't going to attempt this project until after our newborn was sleeping through the night, but sometime this summer she just decided she was done using diapers. She also decided around 11 months that she was perfectly capable of using a spoon herself.

Her joie de vivre is like electricity. Someday it will be channeled properly and will light up cities with joy, hope, passion, and love. However, during her toddler years, we find ourselves daily electrocuted! I pray every day we will make it out alive and heading somewhere near the right direction!

Lucie not only looks exACTly like Jon's baby pictures, but she embodies his wacky nature in female form. If she has a choice between something zany and something normal, you have to bet she will chose the former! Or if a zany option is not available, she will create it. Her favorite color is orange. Not pink, not purple, but ORANGE. She was fascinated with ants this summer and would follow them around on the sidewalk being careful not to step on them. She'll wear a bucket on her head around the house, her face deadpan, until someone notices her. Her favorite literary characters are Curious George, Frog & Toad, Winnie the Pooh, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and (ugh) Elmo. Her favorite numbers are 11 and 12 and I'm pretty sure she learned how to count just so she would have an excuse to say "eleven" and "twelve." Whenever she says her ABCs she does it as fast as she can, usually while running. Sometimes she gets stuck on the letters H and I and repeats them throughout the rest of the song. It's not surprising that she frequently turns up her nose at my hotdish, but warmly welcomes all of Jon's spicier (he would say "flavorful") dishes, and asks for the extra dash of black pepper whenever daddy has it. She hates cooked carrots and will pick them out of her food, but she doesn't mind raw carrots (I think it's because she's allowed to walk around while eating them).

She wants desperately to express herself, and she is frustrated by her own developmental process. She wants to tell you ALL about what she's thinking and feeling and seeing and doing and hearing and wanting and needing, but she can not form the words correctly enough for her audience to completely comprehend. This results in the throwing of many toys and tantrums. Abigail is often asked to interpret (and she is very good at it!) She can climb tall ladders and goes down the big slides at the park with no help. She often camps herself in her sister's bed which is the top bunk with a book and her Pooh bear.

She is incredibly relational. Abigail is her best friend and when they're getting along they take turns playing the most ridiculous games. When Lucie is feeling particularly mischievous she usually takes it out on Abi, and she harasses her to no end. Her other best friend is her little brother Jonathan. Wherever Jonathan is, Lucie is too. She holds him, pets him, kisses him, and loves on him. She piles his baby toys on top of him so that just his face peeks out. One of her favorite activities is "cuddles on the couch." Her favorite word is "WHY?" and she has the best sniffer of anyone I know. She can sniff out an animal cracker in my mouth from across the house faster than I can swallow it.

I've taken to calling her my little "ginger snap" because she's spicy and sweet at the same time, and yes, she has a bit of snap to her. (Read "sass") She makes me laugh, she makes me cry, and she makes me proud of her every day. I just adore my little Lulu and I love the role she has in our family!

(P.S. To Lucie's future husband: we have begun praying for you. Trust me. You're going to need them.)