This is my littlest baby, Nikki. She’s the clown of the family, always making us laugh with her silly faces and funny expressions. She’s the bravest out of the bunch, always first in line to try something new. She was the first one to scale the big slide and stand up on top of it, ten feet in the air. (Ack!) She was first to learn how to pump her legs while swinging. She’ll jump from the top step, from the back of the couch, and from the kitchen table. She loves music, and she loves to sing. Nikki is a constant source of entertainment for us - she says and does the funniest things.

Nikki regularly cleans things up without being asked. I think she’s got a little bit of her dad’s enginerd qualities. Many times, she’ll call me in the room to show off what she’s done - sometimes she’ll arrange all the shoes up in a neat line, or stack all the books neatly on the shelves. Just this evening, she picked up the whole living room, and she was so pleased with herself afterward. I love that I have at least one child who inherited the neatness gene, because I’ve always worried I was going to raise a family of slobs like myself.

Nikki works hard, plays hard, and then crashes hard. She’s like a wind-up toy - running around crazy, full of energy, until she finally hits the wall. She’s the only one who still naps regularly, and I never have to put her down for a nap - I just always find her holed up somewhere, cuddled up with her thumb in her mouth, snoozing away. We’re trying to break her of the habit, but honestly, it’s still so precious to me to see a sleeping child with their thumb in their mouth. I need to get over that, I guess, so my child doesn’t mess up her teeth.

I just wanted to post a few things about my children here, because people keep asking me lately what it’s like now that two of them are in school. And my answer: it’s a lot of fun! Three and a half is such a fun age, I think. It has such a bad reputation, three. But I just love it - kids do so many cute, precious things at this age. Every day, I find myself just smiling when I see the girls playing together, making up elaborate pretend scenarios. It’s really cool, this parenting thing. I recommend it!

Possibly Related

• September 8, 2008 -- Looking out for Little Sis
• August 29, 2008 -- 5 years ago.