Lucy turned 2 years old today! She understood that it was her birthday and that she’d have cake with candles, but I don’t think she was prepared for presents. Hannah sure was, though, and she woke Lucy up at 5am to get things started! Once Lucy got downstairs, she kept saying, “YAY!” and “for ME!” She has adopted the Markelz way of opening presents – nice and slow. She stopped to color multiple pages in her Dora coloring book in between gifts.

We had a nice low-key day at home. She got to spend some downtime with mom while Hannah was at dance camp in the morning. Then she shared her new sandbox with Hannah in the afternoon. The sandbox is messy, but it’s better than the dirt trench she’s been digging in for the past few weeks. We have just come to accept that Lucy=messes. Yesterday we had vegetable soup for lunch, and I had to wash zucchini off the BOTTOMS OF HER FEET. How it got there? Who knows.

Lucy’s requested supper was spaghetti with meatballs and she had 3 whole servings! We had to cut her off for fear she’d explode. To burn off the energy fueled by the Dora birthday cake, she rode bikes and ran in the front yard while we chatted with our neighbors. It felt so good to be outside after an entire week of rain.

Keeping up with Lucy every day can be a challenge – she is messy and loud and regularly breaks things. She won’t keep her shoes on and pulls barrettes out of her hair. I’ve gone through 2 bottles of stain spray so far this summer on her clothes and it’s only June. But at the same time she is so loving and sweet. She gives kisses freely, likes to hold my hand during dinner, and cuddles with dad every morning when she wakes up. And she’s full of joy. She makes funny faces and silly noises to make her sister laugh. She wears dad’s shoes and mom’s sunglasses. And she’s been a wonderful big sister to June. We can’t wait to see what new things are in store for her this year.