To a Grey Hair Named Lucy,

You have been hard earned, dear friend. And as the first of many more dear friends to come, I think it is only right that I pay honor to the reason for your existence and name your accordingly: Lucy.

For the night she learned to crawl out of her crib and somehow was as stealthy as a night ninja, creeping to my room, curling her fingers around my bedroom door, slowly opening it, and refusing to answer who it was.

For the night she crawled out of her bed and hid in her closet so we couldn’t find her.

For the afternoon she crawled out of bed and spread diaper cream all over herself, her walls, and her furniture.

For the night she crawled out of bed and tiptoed down to just sit on the stairs and stare at us without us noticing. She’s super creepy.

For the nights she kept crawling out of bed to sneak to the basement to get dog food to lure the dog to her room. We’re still not sure how much food is still in her bed.

For the day we found her in the church parking lot because she took us seriously when we said it was time to go and an unsuspecting adult let her out.

For the day we found her across the street running to the beach unattended because she took us seriously when we said we were going for a beach walk but neglected to mention that we needed to clean up dinner before we could go (good grief – we really do need to be more careful explaining what we are doing and when it is happening).

For the day she escaped daycare and convinced another child to join her on her tour of liberation.

For the day she came home from daycare green because her sister brought a non-washable marker to play with.

For the day we found her shut up in her room feeding the dog Zicam. (Who knew those lids weren’t childproof?)

For the day she excitedly claimed she found something in her room and I wasn’t sure if it is was her poop or the dog’s puke. (It was the dog’s puke. Turns out she was feeding the dog wood chips earlier in they day and those don’t sit well with dogs)

For the day she snuck dog food into the bag she takes to daycare and fed all of the other  daycare children dog food. The parents were super excited about that one.

For the day she chugged the last few sips of wine of my unattended glass to the horrors of my book club friends. (She’s much quicker than one would expect.)

That’s right, Grey Hair Named Lucy, as this incomplete list suggests, it’s been quite the run with that two year old.  And as Mike carefully examined you in our chimp-like ritual in the light of the Costco parking lot on our hot Friday night date, flashbacks of your conception were running through my mind.

You, dear friend, have earned your place.