Thursday, April 24, 2014

To Lucy

Lucy, if I had to choose one word to describe you it would be passionate.

Coming in second place would be dramatic.

Your pendulum of emotions swings both ways and never sits still in the middle.

You have the most acute senses of anyone I know.  You are the first to notice when someone has changed their hairstyle, or when one of the babies needs a new diaper.  You can detect the slightest drop of pepper in a dish and you can easily "name-that-tune" in the first two notes of a song.  We've learned that anything too scratchy, itchy or tight is off limits when it comes to your wardrobe.

You are overshadowed by your highly-intelligent and attention-loving older brother. Your I-Don't-Care-What-Anyone-Thinks attitude has caused us to overlook that you are quietly absorbing every flashcard, every sight word and every factoid we've ever drilled into William.

Just the other day, when William had reached his breaking point and was exhausted of doing his math facts, I pulled out one last flashcard.  He sat and stared at it, the numbers no longer making sense. And you...you waited silently.  And then, growing impatient, you looked at your brother and said, "It's two, William.  The answer is two."

I laughed so hard.  Because you were right!

You play the best with Bobby.  You are gentle with him and don't get as easily frustrated when he messes with your stuff as you do with your other siblings.
You play the next best with Katherine.  But only when William is at school.  The two of you have finally found your girly, sisterly way now that Kate is old enough.  You'll take care of your dollies together, or comb your My Little Pony's hair or play beauty shop with each other or dress up as Queen Elsa and Princess Anna.  Katherine follows you around like little sisters do and you love playing leader.
You are a leader.  This is new to me as it is not part of my own makeup.  You never follow the crowd. And I secretly love that about you even though it sometimes causes me a lot of angst.

William is your absolute favorite person in the whole entire world.  I still can't figure this out because not a day goes by when he doesn't make you scream bloody murder.  Oh how he knows how to press your buttons.  But I suppose that's the responsibility of all older brothers.

Today you get to have a special date with Daddy and me.  You get to choose to do whatever you want to do.  And while you get a precious chance to have the two of us all to yourself, you insisted that William come along.
You are funny in the way people are when they aren't trying to be funny.  You say whatever pops into your head with your over-expressive tone and it makes all of us laugh.  Usually in the car or at the dinner table.

I struggle with your outbursts.  And your demands.  Your slow-pokeness and your refusals.


But if I'm really being honest with myself, I have to tell you, you're the daughter I always I hoped I'd have.

Your beauty sometimes takes my breath away.  You are kind.  And smart.  Thoughtful.  And gentle. You ask good questions.  You take pride in your family.  You ooze self confidence without being pretentious. You are cautious.  You possess just the right amount of fear; not quite a scaredy-cat but not a risk-taker either. And even though you hate going to church every Sunday, you pray your own sweet prayers all by yourself every night before you go to sleep.

My favorite moments with you are every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon when you are off of preschool. William is away at school and the babies are napping.  Sometimes we eat lunch with good conversation. Sometimes you quietly read next to me while I am on the computer.  But most of the time we are on top of my bed, under a large blanket.  You insist on sleeping face to face.  I close my eyes and can feel you staring at me.  I crack one eyelid and you softly giggle.  It only takes five or ten minutes longer before sleep overcomes you.  Your hand still clutched to mine and the other to your bunny.

I'm cursing Father Time for making you turn five today because five years old means that in four and a half months I will lose you to kindergarten.  If I were selfish I would have chosen to keep you home or at least insisted you only go to halfday kindergarten.  Unfortunately for me, kindergarten seems to be all you can talk about.  All you want to do is walk in the patrol line and wear a uniform and eat lunch in the cafeteria with your brother.

What I should have done was to raise you to be more dependent on me, less sure of yourself and more afraid of starting new things.

But if that were the case, then you wouldn't be my Lucy Girl.  And I do so love my Lucy Girl just the way she is.  My birthday wish for you, my dear, is that you never let that spark of yours burn out. Don't let it dim even for one tiny second.
Princess Explorer/Sunglass & Handbag Aficionado
Happy Birthday!

4 comments:

  1. Happy birthday my sweet beautiful Lucy Lu! You're five! Congratulations and have a fun birthday!

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  2. Thanks a lot for the tears ;) Happy Birthday Lucy Girl! Love you Bunches!!

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  3. Ditto on the tears. I was gonna read it later cuz I knew I'd have them, but I gave in and now I'm bawling. There goes the mascara. Beautifully written. She seems to be a lot like Ash :) Maddie is my home body. Happy birthday Lucy! I hope we can get together this summer to play!

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  4. Happy Birthday to Lucy! My little Liv is entering Kindergarten in the fall too.

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