Lucy just had her 2nd birthday. It was pretty low-key, mostly because we've learned from experience that action-packed days are not conducive to happy toddlers.
I've got to say, though, that I think Lucy's birthday was calibrated just right. I don't think she ever really got what this birthday thing was about (sometimes she'd jump and twirl and sing out, "It's my birthday!" and sometimes she would burst into tears if anyone mentioned the b-word and yell, "No birthday!") But she fully enjoyed all the attention and pampering lavished on her by her sisters, and just generally had a great day. What really made the day for her, though, was Dora.
Yeah, Dora the Explorer.
Let me first explain that this kid is obsessed with Dora. We've had some Dora-focused kids before (notably Claire, the sister Lucy seems to parallel the most) but Lucy takes it to a whole new level. She wakes up asking for Boots, she has watched our Dora Christmas Special DVD more times than any of us can stand: in short, the only 30 minutes that I can count on for peace with this kid is when Dora makes her morning appearance on the t.v. She could care less about almost every other show, but she really loves Dora.
So. We took the kids to a big park for the afternoon. It was a nice day, miraculously not too packed with kids, and we all had a good time. The last 20 minutes before we left were pure heaven for Lucy, though.
At first we didn't get what was going on. I didn't see it begin: what I know comes from Chris. He said that he couldn't tell what Lucy was saying, but he saw her babbling intently at some little girl, and then he heard her say, "Dora?"
And then he almost choked when he realized. This little girl was Hispanic. With dark brown hair. And big, shiny eyes. And a huge, bright smile. Wearing a solid pink shirt. And blue shorts.
The kid had no idea what Lucy was saying, but she seemed to get a kick out of this little baby who clearly thought the world of her. So she just smiled a big, cartoony smile as Lucy asked her, "Dora?" And the little girl said brightly, "Okay! Hi!" and then ran off.
Chris said that Lucy's face was just glowing. She took off after the little girl with all the speed she could muster, and for the remainder of our stay she was completely focused on this kid. The little girl was very sweet - she noticed that Lucy had taken a shine to her and so she would stop playing occasionally to peek out at Lucy, and giggle at her.
Lucy was truly in heaven. As far as she is concerned, Dora the Explorer materialized out of thin air specifically to play with her on her birthday. We couldn't have possibly planned anything more perfect. I came upon the scene in time to see Lucy chattering delightedly as the little girl stopped to tie her shoes. When Claire tried to join her little chat, she pushed her away and said, "My Dora!"* The anonymous little girl just laughed again and smiled at Lucy.
So, Happy Birthday Lucy! How lucky for us that it was so easy to make all your dreams come true!
(The picture at the top is my furtive attempt at getting a picture of the anonymous girl. She's the one on the swings in the pink shirt. It's not a clear shot, but it's the only one I took, seeing as it's kind of frowned upon to take pictures of random kids at the park. But I wanted to try, because this is one of those things that you just know will be a family legend. Chris has already sworn that he will most likely spend his deathbed moments remembering Lucy's face when the girl said, "Okay!")
*Yeah, okay, it doesn't say great things about Lucy that she reacted to meeting her hero by shoving everyone else away. I know, I know. We're working on toning down her, um, forceful personality. I promise.
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