My Buddy

This blog is not about bragging. It is merely an expression of awe over my 3rd child. I am by no means declaring her my favorite mind you, but she has been the easiest of my three, hands down! When Jackson and Kate were 3 years old, both they and I were ready for a few days of preschool each week. Against my better judgement, I enrolled Ava in preschool this year and then withdrew her when one month I realized that I'd paid a month's tuition and only taken her twice. I'd only taken her twice because she slept until 9am every morning and was then much fun that I hated to part with her.

One day last week, Ava and I went to a Mommy and Me swim class, followed by a trip to the gym and then we rounded out our afternoon by sharing a salad on the patio at Chipotle. (That's right, she even likes to eat salad for lunch - sounds too good to be true doesn't it?) My other children would have complained about my lunch selection ad nauseum, until I finally caved and went next door for some chicken nuggets but not Ava. As I sat on the patio chatting with her, I realized that I couldn't have asked for a more perfectly suited little buddy. Her good natured temperment allows her to go with the flow and tolerate so much of the running around that we do. I just love that she is happy to hang with me and I am so lucky to be able to spend most days enjoying her company. I am especially grateful to have the mornings with her because once Jackson and Kate get home from school she often has to take a backseat to them and their activities. I know that if I have more children there is no chance to duplicate this little spirit so I am going to enjoy every minute I still have her at home with me. From experience, I've seen that the time goes by WAY too quickly!

Lest I forget, here are a few things that I have recently thought, "I love it when she does that".
* She says, "I snuggle you", when she wants me to hold her.
* Answers "Sure" or "I help you" and smiles whenever I ask her to come help me with a chore.
* She loves to cuddle up and read a story.
* She howls like a wolf (will add a video clip of this soon) when she wakes up in the morning and giggles when we howl back. For the life of us, we have no idea where she got this from!
* She sucks her thumb and rubs her "lovie's" ear when she needs comfort. I know that I should care that she is still sucking her thumb but I really don't.
* She greets me with an ear to ear smile when I open her door after she gets up.
* She can tell when I'm tired or sick and suggests that we "go sleep".