Three!

Our "baby" turned three yesterday. (She is so, so, SO far from a baby now! But in my heart, she'll always be...) I did a terrible job of capturing the day, but here are a few little memories:

We were up and celebrating in pjs by 6 am. Her cards and gifts, birthday crown, cake, and other things awaited her on the dining-room table. Here she is, dancing along to her favorite card--a musical one, sent by her cousin Katherine. (We must have heard that song 100 times by now.)

Here's a bit of her birthday table. Lucy had requested a "spinning Pooh cake" (because last year's cake had spun, and because Pooh has been a huge part of our life this year.)

I began reading The World of Pooh to the kids in my program sometime last year, and was amazed at how much Lucy was listening and understanding. So we began reading chapters ahead on the weekend, and soon it became our every-night-before-bedtime reading. Oh, how I love Milne's use of language (don't even get me started on the bland, watered-down Disney versions...ugh!) And I adore sharing my beloved childhood book with her. And she loves it, too. Her most-requested story is "in which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water," but she has many favorites. Her language is peppered with Pooh-isms (my favorite is "I'm not quite certain.") Our conversations about daily life often end up referring back to favorite Pooh stories. So...

Pictured above you can see a few of the Pooh characters I painted this past month as her main gift. (I haven't yet gotten a photo of all nine. Soon?) Pooh and Christopher Robin are perched on the sad-excuse-for-an-umbrella-as-boat cake, off to rescue Piglet (oh, well, the cake didn't work as I'd hoped, but Lucy was happy with it, and it was delicious). They're floating along through the 100 Aker Wood on a map Andi and I copied from the end paper of the book (one of Lucy's favorite parts of the book). Beside it is a birdhouse made from a Pooh book, a gift from Tim and Eric (it's perched atop my Pooh book and The World of Christopher Robin, which we started reading because we wanted to know more about Pooh, and now know almost as well. Do you know it? The poems are just brilliant. Daily I find myself reciting in my head from this book.)

I also made her a beehive pinata with honey sticks inside (Pooh's favorite, you know.)

(Horrible photo showing my inability to keep a tidy house. Boots I'm not sure I'm keeping yet under the piano; random ugly light fixture atop it...this is our house having been "cleaned up" for a party! Sigh. Other priorities right now...)

We continued the celebration in the evening, over dinner with family. (Lucy'd insisted on wearing her new summer dress from Granny right away, so we layered it up for her.) My mother (Nanny) was able to come (she'd started a new, very draining chemo this week, and we didn't think she'd make it), which made the evening extra special for me. Here, Lucy's opening a donkey-themed lunchbox from her, about to discover the stuffed donkey inside, ("Eeyore!"), which she hasn't put down since.

I didn't get a good photo of her party, but it was Nanny, Tim, Eric, and Randy there in person, and Granny there through Skype.

Here, Lucy tries to get enough air to blow out her candles. (I'd pulled Pooh and Christopher Robin and the umbrella's "handle" off the cake and was about to cut it when I realized I'd forgotten the candles!)

At the end of the night, as she tried to settle for sleep, Lucy was revisiting her day. She asked me "on my next birthday, can we have everything the same? But can I have balloons? Would that be all right with you?" Yes, my darling, that would be all right.