Mile Stones and Tribute to the Middle Child

Some mile stones today:

Our baby girl is now climbing stairs. Now we need to really keep our eyes peeled, and put the gate back up.

Our little girl is counting numbers and singing the alphabet a little bit on her own now.  It actually sent some chills down my spine.  Can she be this old already?  As our middle child, she's often overlooked.  So, I try to maximize the alone time I have with her at night reading books, wrestling, and laughing about nothing.  I catch myself staring at her while we are looking at books and thinking to myself, "She is gorgeous" or "she is so smart."  I've felt a special closeness to her for a couple of reasons.  When she was a baby I stayed in the hospital with her for a few days while she was getting treated for RSV.  The hospital was a short walk from the law school, so I would go to class and come back to be with her.  It was rough at first because she had no veins that were giving enough blood.  The nurses poked and poked and finally succeeded in getting blood and an IV in her head.  We had to hold her down as she screamed.  Later, she had to have a spinal tap.  I was alone with her holding her still.  Even after these experiences and many other pokes and prods, once she calmed down she smiled at the very people who poked and prodded her.  She was smiling all of the time, incredibly patient and loving.  There was nothing more heartbreaking than watching her go through all of that.  As she grew older, she developed an insatiable curiosity and an unbreakable stubborn spunkiness, even to the point of engaging in surprise wrestling attacks on me and my son, which we love.  As my wife is the same way, her personality immediately endeared her to me even more.  She is also very clever, with instincts that almost always get her what she wants, at least with me.  She also has a knack for teasing.  She always sneaks around, runs away, puts things on her brother's head (like books while he is trying to say his prayer at night), etc.  Finally, she is tender and loving.  From the start, she has always been sensitive of others' needs and naturally nurturing and caring, helping with chores, snuggling with us, taking care of her five baby dolls, trying to make the baby laugh, etc.