HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!!

What is cuter than a two year-old?? We LOVE having one in our house--even if we now have to tape her diapers on at night to keep her from taking them and her pajamas off EVERY night!! And even after she breaks glasses by throwing them down to the floor as hard as she can (just for fun--not in anger!), or dumps out drawers or pulls out eggs or scoops of flour, we still can't get enough of her! Lucy loves to go, go, go--she loves kicking and throwing balls as much as any of our boys have, thinks it's a daily chore to run to the couch after lunch, throw off the pillows, and JUMP as high as she can until Mom gets her down for naptime.  She delights in throwing things all over a room, climbing on top of the kitchen table and the piano.  The only time she slows down is when the TV is on--which she tearfully begs for as, "BONNY, BONNY" (Barney) or "DOWA, DOWA."  I've never had a child so attached to the screen so young, so we do our best to find other diversions.  Thankfully, she also loves stories and telephones, and anything else she sees big people doing.  As exuberant as she is, she also LOVES being soft around babies and animals--we all love to watch her little Cosmo voice as she tries to calm our cat, or how she scrunches up her shoulders and arms to speak in a soft voice and examine a baby.  She's taken to singing w/ Anne now, and we love some of her favorite words and phrases: "Satuday!" "Idonknow!" (answered in response to every question starting w/ "Where is...?")  "In a Moning" (when we ask, "When is Monday (or any day of the week)?").  She is so crazily fun and adorable, and it is really fun having such a crew to look out for her.  It's obvious she loves her adoring fans too, as she's always asking after a nap, etc., "Where Mannie? or Bent? or Pencer? or Emanee? or Anne? or Daddy?" We were to have family over for her birthday, but w/ sickness/ schedules, we just had a fun family night at home w/ macaroni and cheese, asparagus, and strawberry cake.  Brian asked if she'd asked for strawberry cake, which she hadn't, but to see her around "Behwwies!" anyone could tell  she'd be excited.  Anne helped us pick out a new (bigger) carseat for dolls, an orange ball, and her own cell phone, which also plays songs (she couldn't decide whether to talk on it or dance to it, and repeatedly switched between the two.  Grandma M also made her a darling doll quilt that matches her own quilt.  She was a riot blowing out her candles--she did blow at least one out, but as the pictures show, she was prepared with backup.  Spencer couldn't wait until after supper to giver her one of his zhu-zhu pets that she LOVES since it does seem alive.  She oohed and aahed over it all through breakfast, rocking it like a baby, and cracking up w/ this adorable hands-over-her-laugh whenever it squeaked at her.