This is my all time favorite picture of Claudine. When I’m down, tired, overwhelmed, or just plain bored, I pull this picture out and I can’t help but smile. I know, I know, such a typical, smitten parent. As if seeing and being around your kids all day long isn’t enough, we need to constantly look at pictures and videos too. It’s like when your kids are beating you down with every little “mommmmmmy! I NEED you!” and you can’t wait (I mean seriously, cannot wait) for 7:30 pm to roll around so that you can tuck them into bed with a goodnight kiss and hug and forget about them for at least a few hours. Then an hour or so goes by…the house is all clean with toys put away…and you’ve finally plopped on the couch for some peaceful downtime…and you start to miss them. You know what I’m talking about. You try to push the kids out of your mind because it’s your time, but you really miss them. WTF??

I love my 2 girls equally, and Mia, our four year old, is amazing me in ways I would have never imagined. She’s sharp as a thumb tack and funny as all hell. But she’s also loud and hyper and talking ALL THE TIME - the total opposite of Mark and I, who tend to be on the quieter side. She’s got presence in a room and can fill up space with her personality. It’s all good and fun, but it’s also exhausting day in and day out. Still, I wouldn’t wish her to be any other way and we enjoy seeing this extroverted personality emerge (from where though? Not inherited from us).

Claudine, on the other hand, is still very much our baby. And because she is our last, I am trying to savor every minute of her sweetness before she too explodes into full toddlerhood, learns to talk back with an attitude that seems way too fresh to come out of that mouth, and bounds into rooms with tireless energy, never walking but always running. I figure we have another 4 or 5 months. So for now it’s all chubby cheeks and funny faces and mispronounced words and big smiles.