The {Middle} Child

"They were the best of times, they were the worst of times." This is how I feel about Mikaela, except it may actually be summed up as: It was the best of minutes, and it was the worst of minutes. You never really know when Mr. Hyde will emerge from Dr. Jekyll and turn the whole world upside down. Two-year-olds are like bipolars: one minute super happy and fun and so stinking cute, and the next minute some little monster you believe may have been spawned by Satan takes over.

Mikaela was infected with the terrible-twos syndrome about the time her younger brother made his debut - and with a vengeance. This syndrome peaked when the baby was about two months and has since leveled off. We are still experiencing quite high levels however, and do the best we can, attempting as best we can to avoid the temptation of sedation through drugs (although hot baths and long drives are never off limits).

Lately Miki has gotten quite professional at dictating what we should or shouldn't do or say. She loves to come up to you with a scowl on her face asking, "What are you doing?" She is also excellent at correcting improper usage. I asked her this morning "Are you my Miki-Me?" She replied, "No mom, I am just a child."

She has also developed some sweet catch phrases.  Upon seeing fellow Homo sapiens, she calls out the greeting, "Hello, humans!" She also says "Ahoy" in case we only speak Pirate. If I ask her where something is, she will always reply, "Right there, to the left."

Each morning after we drop off Libby at pre-k we go to the gym where Mikaela goes to "gym school". The daycare at the gym is great and the workers there are so nice. Mikaela especially loves Miss Wobbin (Robin). Whenever she isn't there she says "Whey Mz. Wobbin doe?" Ms. Robin has taught her several songs and sometimes gives Miki her favorite thing in life: gum.

Mika is definitely a Daddy's girl, through and through. Whenever he gets more than three feet away from her she says, "Where you going?" She has a really hard time when he goes to work, and most every morning will sit by the stairs and cry for him to come back. It's very sad and I'm a little bit worried about how she will handle things when Denver deploys. We're working on recording some books for her with his voice so he can still read her a story every night before she goes to bed. We're all going to miss Daddy.

In the end, the highs definitely outweigh the lows, and we love our little middle child so much. It is fun watching her grow and change and I'm sure one day I will look back at all this craziness and laugh. For now I sometimes sneak into her room at night and watch her sweet little angelic face deep in slumber, dreaming sweet little dreams. No matter how hard the day was, I always leave feeling so grateful and blessed to be her parent.

It's okay Daddy, I got this...

Five-year-olds are simply the best. They've moved beyond the temper tantrum throwing years and they're not quite prepubescent, so for the most part they carry on, relatively drama free, and lead happy little lives. We've been having a lot of fun with Libby lately because her personality is just really showing in all kinds of unexpected ways.

A few months ago she found out about an essay contest in which you could win a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble. The assignment was to write about what you like about winter. She decided it was for the best to enter this contest. So we sat down one night and created an outline, then she dictated to me what she wanted to say, and then she copied them down herself word for word. She also created a few pictures to go with it. Here is what she wrote:


The Magic World of Winter - by Liberty Ayn


My favorite thing in winter is snow. I like to build snowmen with CeCe, my best friend. I like to throw snow balls with CeCe too. Sometimes when the snow falls and it's not enough , I like to catch it with my tongue. I like to make snow angels with CeCe and mine was Happy :-). These are my words about tasty magic snow.
 
A few weeks later we got the call; she won! We promptly went and collected her winnings and took part in a photo shoot (see above).  A few days later we went to Barnes and Noble and she picked out a few things she liked. She then went and purchased these items completely on her own (while I stood and watched from a distance with all the pride a mother can have). She had $2 left on the gift card, so we decided to go to the Starbucks inside B & N to get a raspberry steamer with the leftover money. We arrived just as Denver was ordering some coffee. We added her order to his, and the lady said "that will be $6." When Denver reached into his wallet to pull out his debit card, Libby very stealthily pushed her own card up on the counter and said, "Don't worry daddy, I got this." She was so proud. All in all, a great day and a very memorable experience.