It's time for another birthday post, brought to you today by the letter 'L'...

The first 'L' word we will be talking about is LAUGH.  And one person immediately comes to mind when I hear that word: LYDIA.  Because LYDIA can always makes me LAUGH and I usually am when I am around her (hence the title of this post).  I LOVE this about her and I have always envied her ability to put others at ease with her humor.  Even as a baby she was doing crazy and funny things that made her the "LIFE of the party".  And I have the pictures to prove it!  (Why else would one of her nicknames as a toddler have been "Dooger" otherwise?)  Name a movie that she LOVES, LIKE LABYRINTH, Napoleon Dynamite, or Nacho LIBRE, and she will be quoting it LICKETY SPLIT... and you will be LAUGHING!

I am firmly convinced that she could have a successful career as a stand-up comic.  She is that funny and self-deprecating, much LIKE LUCILLE Ball.   But she has so many other talents, too.  I think the reason LYDIA makes people LAUGH so easily is she has an innate way of putting people at ease around her: she's so darn LIKABLE!

One of my favorite memories of LYDIA is how she used to fall asleep on my bed as a baby/toddler with her bottle every night she was given the opportunity.  It was her favorite place to be, snuggled in the arms of my gargantuan pink and blue teddy bear "Freddy".  (He eventually went to share her room when I went to college, because who could keep Freddy company better than LYDIA?)  She also LOVED to come sleep in my bed with me any night I would let her.  She slept great!  And LITTLE snuggler that she is, she would creep across the full bed in her sleep to me, LITERALLY perched on the other edge of the bed.  I would eventually push her, sound asleep, back to the other side of the bed where she would begin her gradual journey back to my side of the bed.  It was never a restful night of sleep for me, but LYDIA always thought it was the best thing ever.  So it was worth it.


So the thing about our LOVABLE LYDIA is she likes to act like she is your average, everyday girl. ("Wiggity wiggity what?!" is her variation on everyday girl, gangsta style.)  But bring out a game and watch the competitive side of this one come out to play -  I don't think I seen her hit the LIMIT yet, she is always raring for the top spot.  And that is what makes her so fun to play with and more often than not, she is successful.  LYDIA has got LOTS of smarts, too, hidden behind the LOVELY face.

My belated birthday wish for my LITTLEST sister is that she see how beautiful she is inside and out, and have the confidence to overcome the things she is so LEERY of so she can reach her goals.  I am so LUCKY to know and to LOVE her!