Ten Reasons to Have Another Child

Ten ways you know you've been really lucky with your first child:

1) When she was a baby, she only cried when she was hungry. Honest!

2) Yesterday, she very carefully looked at me and asked for an apple. (Of course, this was after she'd exhausted every manner of asking for a treat.)

3) When it comes time for diaper change, I send her to get her stuff and she comes out with diaper mat, diaper, and wipes. Desitin, too, if she can find it. Then she lays the mat down, and gets herself situated. Of course, this is probably a really good indicator that she's ready for potty training, but she won't believe me. Yet. (We move in two weeks, to a house with hardwood floors and a big back yard. Naked time, here we come!)

4) Now that all her toys are packed (or put downstairs), her favorite game is to open the Children's Songbook to all her favorites and either play along, do all the silly actions, or dance around the living room.

5) Whenever she grabs my face, looks deep in my eyes, and wetly "smacks" and "mwahs" my cheeks, chin, nose, and forehead. Melts my heart every time!

6) During a "time to leave Aunt Lolo's House" meltdown this morning, I pulled her onto my lap and explained the rest of the day, ticking it off on my finger: 1) Nap 2) Play 3) Come back to Aunt Lolo's 4) Family Night 5) Go to bed. After ticking them off herself a few times, she hopped down, grabbed her shoes, gave out hugs, and walked me home so we could get started on our list!

7) She can put together the United States of America puzzle, and knows Texas, Nana's State, Daddy's state, Washington, and Oregon by sight.

8) After her shower this morning she went and got a shirt, pair of pants, pair of socks, and a hair ribbon. Has anyone seen "Matilda"? Yeah, she has too.

9) She helps me sweep, vacuum, and load the dishwasher and drainboard.

10) She slept through the night, eleven hours, from 8 weeks to 6 months (that's when she started teething and stopped sucking her thumb!)

So...what do we think the next one will be like?