My dear sweet Lucy,
You are 27 months. It's been a bit of a wild ride this month, as your baby sister Mabel June decided to show up 5 weeks early, so Mama has been a bit preoccupied. I'll tell you more about her in a bit, but first we will talk about you!
We took a trip to the Children's Museum. You LOVED it. We spent most of our time in the Wizard of OZ exhibit. You liked the farm area the best.



Painting/crafting with Ruby is always a fun time for you. You are quite a neat painter, untill you decide to paint your hand, or your leg. You have been making pictures and saying "for Boppa!" or "for Nana!" or "for Daddy!" none for mama yet, but I can be patient.

We went to OMSI with Catherine and Cormac and his new baby sister Flannery. You had so much fun, and I was shocked to see that despite being 8 months younger you are almost as tall as cormac, and he's tall for a 3 year old. SLOW DOWN WITH THE GROWING, PLEASE.

HALLOWEEN CAME!! we carved a pumpkin together.

You were pretty proud of yourself.

You and Ruby both loved it!

Then it was DRESS UP TIME! You went to one party as Buzz Lightyear, Ruby was Tinkerbell

You also spent time time at home ROARing like a Dragon (or dinosaur, I can't remember)

But for actual Halloween you were a "Muh-Maid". Your Nana made you a fantastic costume (a skill you will come to LOVE, your Nana can sew ANYTHING). For weeks before Halloween, you kept saying "Ucy, Haweeen muh-maid!" and you were a fantastic mermaid!

It didn't take long for you to get the deal with Trick Or Treating. You never said "trick or treat" but you said "Ucy! Haweeeeen! Muhmaid!" at every door. You were quite charming.



You are ridiculously cute. I almost can't stand it.

We took out your sister's light table (your Nana made this too, I tell you, she can make anything) and you love love love it!

In preparation for your new baby sister, we had to move all of your and Ruby's clothes around. So you got a new dresser, with your name on it!

So, at 33 weeks (most babies stay in mama's tummy for closer to 40 weeks) my water broke (which means the place little Mabel was growing in was starting to show signs that she might come early, and I had to go and lay in a hospital bed with Doctors and Nurses watching over me and baby.
You and Ruby would come visit me every day, sometimes coloring, sometimes just snuggling, always bringing me joy and kisses.


I missed you SO SO SO MUCH. Not seeing you all day every day has been the hardest part of it all.
But your Nana has been staying with you, so Daddy could come back and forth to the hospital to see me and get everything ready for Mabel's early arrival. It was a slightly rough transition to all of a sudden have mama gone all the time, but you adjusted just fine, and are LOVING all the time with Nana and Boppa.

I don't have any pictures of it, but I have been told that Boppa is your homeboy now, and of course he is completely smitten with you. (who isn't?)
While I was on bed rest in the hospital you learned how to do sock puppets.

And most nights when leaving you were SO sad that I couldn't leave with you. One night you kept saying "Ucy stay, mama's bed?" Let's just say I cried a lot that night.

So as I was saying, your baby sister, Mabel June came early. REALLY early. Like 6 weeks earlier than her expected due date. She is small but strong and healthy. Because she is so small, she has to live in a special hospital for babies called the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (or NICU for short). This is a really special NICU because Mabel gets her own room and someone can stay with her every night so she doesn't have to be alone. Daddy stayed with her for a few nights until I could leave the recovery nurses after my surgery (all three of you girls were born via Cesarean section surgery. You like to look at my bandage and ask me if it's an owie and if it hurts. It is, and it does but that's how babies are born for some mamas) and i would come over every chance i got (when I wasn't resting and trying to heal) to snuggle and nurse your baby sister. now Daddy is home with you and Ruby and Nana and I am here with Mabel until she is ready to come home. You asked me today to come home with you, and my sweet sweet girl, I really want to. But your baby sister is small and fragile and she needs mama SO much right now. It's so important for her to get as much time in my arms, on my chest and at the breast right now because those things are so healing and will help her grow so much faster.

I am grateful that you get to come visit as much as you can. You had a cold for a few days so I would meet you in the atrium or the cafe and we would have snuggle and play time. You did get to meet Mabel one time before you got sick tho.

You showed her how to nurse, and when you did, she did a better job! She is still really tiny and nursing or drinking from a bottle is hard work, so she gets most of her milk from a tube untill she gets stronger and her neurologic system (her brain) figure out how to work together. We still try all the time anyway, it's good for both of us.

You visited again today and my heart swelled to the point of bursting.

You only asked for a 'taste' and then you said the rest was for baby Mabel, but if you need to nurse occasionally to transition to being a big sister I will totally support you.



You've only been a big sister for 6 days and yet you seem to be a natural. You were so gentle and soft and curious. You wanted to talk about her eyes and her ears and her hair. You kissed her so sweetly and worried that she wasn't getting milk. You are no longer the baby, and yet you are still MY baby. In the two weeks I have been in this hospital you have grown up SO much. Nana is helping you learn to go pee in the potty and wear underpants. Your language acquisition and conversation skills are taking a huge leap. Your understanding of the world around you is just amazing.

My dear sweet Lucy, I love you so very much. Tonight before you left, after I had put Mighty Mabel back in her bed you climbed into my lap and we held each other for a very long time. It filled my heart to the brim because I have been missing you SO much these days and the short visits I get with you are never enough. Soon enough Mabel will be bigger and stronger and we will come home and you can spend all day every day looking at her, and learning to be a big sister, whatever that will mean to you. I look forward to snuggling you on the couch and reading books with you, watching you build at the light table or cut paper. I have no doubt that our first few weeks home will be challenging as we will have to get used to a new normal, but you have proven to be such a delightful child, I suspect you'll take it all in stride.
Thank you for becoming my middle child, for filling the bookends between your sisters with laughter and kisses and wonder. Thank you for changing the way I see the world and for your beauty and heart. You are an amazing little person and I adore every inch of you.
All my love, Mama