GETTING TO KNOW YOU

KF is a most interesting child. She's quietly stubborn, except when she's attacking her big sister or protesting bedtime. Then, she's noisily stubborn. Every morning I feel I must re-introduce myself because she gives me a look that implies, "I've never seen you before. Who are you? Leave me alone. And, don't even think about getting close to me."

She needs a haircut, but refuses to even think about it. I've heard her bedtime protests, so I'm not volunteering to take her to the local Super Cuts. JA and LG were seduced into compliance with lolipops, but I KNOW KF wouldn't buy into that ploy. So, she looks like a little pixie, and when she smiles she lights up the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

She tip-toes and skips through her days, fascinated by engineering details (like knobs and locks) and small objects. She prefers her Cabbage Patch baby naked--like starkers, very bare. Well, what the heck, she prefers herself naked--like in starkers, totally bare. But, sometimes she adds one of LG's tank-top undershirts, which is quite a few sizes too big for her. And, most days she pulls a pair of LG's undies on over her diaper.

Yes, she is one of my morning princesses. Lots of mornings she needs to dress up, when she's not dressing down--like totally.

She loves her Papa... He gets unsolicited hugs and cuddles. Once in a while she will do a drive-by hug for me, and very occasionally she will climb up next to me on the couch. These gifts HAVE to be unsolicited, because if I show interest or ask she cuts me dead! I've learned to smile lots, give her many compliments, but to wait for her to get chummy. Anyway, it's always most special when the love is volunteered.

I tell her, like I've told JA for months and months, that someday I will be her very best friend.