Now can we open presents? How about now?

A princess under the sea.

On the night before Elise's birthday, it was not my pre-4-year-old I was chatting with far into the night (so, 8:30), but the 6-year-old. We were talking about the one, and the only, Elise. It was Kalina who initiated the conversation. "Isn't Elise just hilarious, Mommy? She could be on a TV show!" the big sister commented proudly of her little sister. "She's so funny, she would make everyone laugh. She could even be the star of a movie, and everyone would just love her!" I wholeheartedly agreed. "I'm so glad we have Elise!" Kalina continued and we both went on in the same vein for a bit.

Because it's true: we're just so glad we have Elise! With her cheerful demeanor, her unedited quips and her kind heart (that doesn't always want worms to fall on Daddy's head, and even then in only the nicest way), Elise never ceases to amaze us. She keeps us laughing and smiling all day long--who couldn't when faced with the mischievous glint that so often finds its way into her eyes, or her offers (demands) to share, or her best "princess face," or baby-kitten/clownfish meow/click, or the silly songs she makes up, or her unfailing insistence on purple, or her excited squeals, or her Really Loud And Sometimes High Pitched expressions, her pride in the various new tricks she can perform, her wacky dancing, her enthusiastic and detailed stories or a million other facets of this sweet girl.

Elise is very loved!

And then there's the fact that if you give Elise a lollipop or sparkly shoes, she will show and tell anyone who glances her way. She makes friends easily, even occasionally with boys though she would rarely admit it, and even volunteered to perform a solo on her first day of preschool music class. The girl thinks every food is a finger food, except fish sticks, which she wants cut up even though I would allow her to eat them with her fingers. She laughs when others laugh and (usually) saddens when others are sad and is happy to run to their rescue. She still refuses to let herself be called "little," she can swing higher on her tummy than anyone I've known and she can clean her room quickly and well, but only if she's motivated for some reason.

Two favorite gifts: the
trampoline and the sparkle
kitty purse like Kalina's,
except Elise's is, of course,
purple.

At four, Elise is making the step from bouncy and imaginative three-year-old to a four-year-old who is really proud of being able to write the "s" in her name, "read" parts of stories--and even sound out the occasional word with lots of help, count to 20 or higher without even needing pesky 15 or annoying 18, and almost skip. She has been known on several occasions to say no to Kalina when the big sister is asking her to break a rule. Not bad for a fun-loving four-year-old!

Elise's dearest dream at the moment is to swim out to a coral reef and nab her own pet clownfish and seahorse, and she believes it is possible, especially since she can now "swim." (This means she can paddle around with floaties--but that didn't stop her from telling her swim instructor, "You can go home now, I don't need any more lessons--I can swim!") She also believes she is a princess, which fortunately for us, often means princess manners and princess kindness every bit as much as plastic-beaded bracelets.

Me and my middlest, as captured by
photographer Kalina.

The party for Elise started a couple weeks ago in Des Moines, with a purple Princess Sofia dress from her Grandma and Grandpa. From that moment, she decided she was not only four years old a bit early, but also Princess Sofia herself. This has been fun and cute, and Kalina has enjoyed playing along, too.

Elise's actual birthday dawned bright and sunny and perfect--and with not a germ in the house. She spotted her first present when she came downstairs: a trampoline from Mommy and Daddy. Elise could jump before she could walk, and loves to do so. On couches, beds--you name it, despite many admonishing from her mommy. And now, on her trampoline! It's big enough for two if they're careful, and has only caused minor injuries so far. She loves it--and I should record for posterity the fact that she loves it exactly as much as the present Kalina picked out for her.

If you're the birthday girl, you
get to take a preliminary nibble.
Especially if you just can't wait.

Which happens to be a Sofia sea castle thing. Kalina, I should note, chose the sea castle over another gift that she herself would've had more fun with because she thought Elise would like the castle better. And Elise does, indeed, love it. The girls bounced and played and ate birthday cereal (Lucky Charms) as long as I could let them before it was time for Elise to go to preschool.

As an extra-special gift, Matt took the day off of work, so just Elise and I loaded up her purple-frosted, sprinkled chocolate cake to bring as a preschool treat and headed to her classroom, where she was probably treated like royalty all morning.

Kalina came with me to pick Elise up so we could surprise her with a big-girls-only trip to McDonald's. Look, we're celebrating and no one is throwing up! (Not this day, anyway--but possibly a couple days ago out of sheer excitement, we assume...it is good that we know Elise's mood affects her stomach...)

A birthday girl waiting for her
guests to arrive.

And of course, we wouldn't make Elise have "downtime" on her birthday, so the big girls watched Sofia on TV while we all got a little rest. What a fun birthday!

Shortly afterward, Grandpa arrived and we had more gifts (a stuffed coral reef! A sparkly kitty purse! Treasure drawers! Princess Legos! An under-the-sea sandbox! A zoo game! And more!), then Elise's birthday supper of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, of which she ate a few bites, probably to save room for the cupcakes she'd gotten to pick out at the grocery store. Elise had been unsure whether or not she needed to sing to herself, but decided to on this occasion.

On heading to bed that night, Elise asked when her real birthday would be. Um.... But she meant her party with friends, which would be held two days later in the morning, assuming, of course, no one came down with a fever or threw up.

The guests are here!

To ward off that possibility, we did end up giving Elise her treat bag early. Also in preparation for the party, we made various types of fish to decorate the walls and ceilings. Kalina, with some help from Elise, made "seaweed wands" out of grapes and skewers, Grandpa blew up a bunch of tiny balloons (bubbles), I twisted seaweed streamers, Matt put together a fishing game and the big girls adorned themselves in princess dresses, and soon we had ourselves a princess-fairy-under-the-sea party! Our guests began to arrive--also in their princess best, plus one ballerina.

We started by decorating clownfish beach balls with markers, an activity that managed to work just fine even with princess dresses (I had smocks available). Then we had playtime and next the fishing game--which, unbeknownst to Elise, was stocked with colorful stuffed clownfish. Elise got to be the first fisherprincess, and Matt did an excellent job of playing "fish," tugging the line just right and even allowing a few to "get away" before any fish were actually "hooked." Our birthday girl was surprised when she reeled in a purple-striped fish, and the other girls quickly stepped up to give it a try.

There were better pictures of
the fishing game, but in this
one you can see the delight
on Elise's face. Aw!

Soon it was time for snacks and cake. Elise consented to go through the routine of singing and blowing out the candles instead of immediately snatching the princess Sofia topper right off and licking the frosting, not to mention digging into a chunk of cake. "Now can I have the Sofia? How about now?" The cake, which Elise helped make, managed to be purple-marble, and quite good. Elise was the first  and last one eating, as her favorite method is to pinch off little pieces of frosting and lick her fingers. Maybe by birthday #5 we'll stick to a fork.

I managed to lure Elise away from her cake with the promise of presents. She'd already opened one before I could stop her, but enthusiastically dug into the rest. Poor girl has seen this routine all summer, and was finally glad for her own opportunity to take center stage. She unwrapped a couple Sofia things, a purple jewelry box she could decorate with jeweled stickers, a Tinkerbell movie and a really cool looking game that I'm itching to try with her. What a happy birthday!

"Seaweed wands," princess
Goldfish and string cheese
octopuses, inspired by the
way Kalina turned dandelions
into octopuses this summer.

"Now can we do goody bags?" Elise asked again (I'd been deflecting the question for nearly a week already). It was finally time to answer yes, and the 4-year-old helped everyone get the right bag. The kids all played a bit longer, and then headed for home. Elise had had a wonderful day thanks to her friends and, admittedly, cake, presents and goody bags--the trifecta of a perfect party. Hmm...

In fact, it was a pretty perfect birthday for our middle-sized princess/baby clownfish/baby kitten/sea diver. Here's looking forward to another perfect, and at times "perfect," year with our sweet Elise. Happy birthday, 4-year-old! As Kalina has said many times, we're so glad we have you!

Birthdays are always happier
with your sister next to you.

A stuffed hedgehog puppet
and a balloon. What more
could a 1-year-old ask?

The presents. Elise's patience was well
rewarded

Mini-Vacationing

Vacation is a funny word. It implies relaxation, excitement, a change from the ordinary, and getting away from "it all." This was not entirely us last weekend, but we had a lovely time vacationing with our mini's anyway to see friends and family a state away. Yay! Vacation!

We took it all with us, didn't relax a whit, continued in our efforts to get kids to eat vegetables and meat and sleep at the right times and spent many long hours in the car, but the other stuff, the true "change of pace," did us all good.

You never know ahead of time how a trip will go, and that it will all be worth it (and by all, I mean the tremendous amount of prep, the drive, the late nights and early mornings and the week's worth of recovery), so even leaving the regular supply of diapers, healthfully stocked refrigerator and clean clothes in the first place takes a good deal of courage--no matter how much you decide to pack. Which was a lot.

Fortunately for my nerves, we were venturing to the known--a well-stocked, comfy house with a baby already living in it, and not far from a Target, so we knew we'd survive. As it turned out, the Target came in handy.

We left on a hot, humid 90-degree Friday morning. I'd eyed the weather forecast and decided that even though we would be trekking north, there's no way that the low 70s predicted could could actually be chilly. Chilly was not, in fact, in my vocabulary at the time. I contented myself with tossing in sweatshirts and tennis shoes for everybody, along with all the adorable, and even matching, summer outfits.

We'd moved Elise's carseat to the back, so that she and Kalina could talk to each other easily and share toys. Naomi could watch both of them.

What I pictured: Kalina reading sweetly to Elise for hours on end, while making funny faces every so often at Naomi as we sped happily toward a fun, family vacation.

What really happened: Kalina became super-absorbed in the various vacation activities and barely noticed her sisters; Elise quickly took up sucking her thumb, a habit she'd dropped in the daytime; and Naomi napped. Then, Elise asked every three seconds for snacks and Naomi fidgeted and fussed a lot. Then Naomi all-out wailed and we stopped for a while at a rest stop, found a cool caterpillar and had a tickle fight with cattails.

If nothing else, I reasoned, at least we had a cool caterpillar and a cattail tickle fight at a rest stop.

The stop cheered everyone up, and then I could justify yet another snack, and so we pulled into our friends' house in relative peace. We weren't yet at our destination, but we were able to play for a good while with the kids we were visiting and all their neat toys. Naomi could not stop smiling about the double-joy of being out of the car and exploring a new place. She played with not much more than air for an hour or so.

A catnap for Naomi later and we were at our "bed and breakfast," a friend's house with a new baby, a sweet dog and plenty of room to spread out. The big girls must have believed me when I said it was time for bed, and seemed to settle right off. Naomi did alright, too.

The temperature had taken a 30-degree nosedive during our journey so I found myself sorting through summer clothes in dismay, and heading to Target with my friend to stock the kids for the rest of the trip. Cold hands do not make for warm hearts, after all, and we needed warm hearts!

And now, the pictures will do the rest of the talking. See all those warm hearts? Warm arms, warm legs, warm hearts and warm smiles.

Who doesn't want their picture
taken in a giant egg at the zoo?

Watching the wallabies. The girls were not nearly as impressed
as I was about the fact that we could walk around in their cage.
In their cage, girls!!! Soak it in.

The closest we got to a picture
with Grandma and Grandpa.
If you look carefully, you can
see Naomi in back of her big
sisters.

Naomi desperately wanted to touch
every animal in the petting zoo.
Desperately. Missed-nap, strange place,
poor sleep desperately.

What did you like best about the apple orchard with Uncle David
and Aunt Debbie? The caramel apples! And donuts! Not the
giant slide or bouncy thing or corn pool, apparently. But those
were great, too.

Then: pump water and we might survive the
winter.
Now: Pump water, and the duck swims.

Then: with all this corn, we and our
animals night survive the winter.
Now: Geronimo!

The kids braved the tractor-train ride. Also, the giant slide in
the distance. The green thing is not the slide--it's where you
walk up. It starts about halfway up the slide. We are all brave,
and Mommy was the only one who screamed on the way down.

Naomi and her new best friend! Yes, they're dressed alike. And
so are the big girls. We love twinning!

Princess "Sofia" at her "princess
birthday party" with Grandma and
Grandpa. The princess ordered
perfect weather, and for everyone
to call her by her princess name.

The princesses in their castle (Kalina
got to be Cinderella!)

The princesses consult with the
queen herself!

A ride fit for a king!

A very happy Naomi birthday!

Happy first birthday, Naomi!

The baby is 1? Really? Now? It's true: Naomi is 1. A toddling, babbling, bouncing, splashing 1-year-old who loves her big sisters, elevators and being bounced on the bed or patted on the back. She dances by wagging her head back and forth, prays and even initiates prayer (I know this routine!), hugs sweetly and generally wraps us all around her sweet little finger--as long as she's not high-tailing it toward her sisters' rooms in an attempt to get there before they can close the door, that is.

At a bleary-eyed 6:04 (a great improvement over last week, nonetheless), I have to admit that the fact that it was the baby/toddler's birthday slipped past me. But less than an hour and a half later we were all singing the birthday song, much to Naomi's delight.

Knowing that the 1-year-old's favorite thing is fruit, the big girls insisted she have it early and often throughout the day. And so we did! At least six different kinds--seven, if you count tomato. Whether the extra helpings of fruit contributed to the fact or not, Naomi was in high spirits virtually until bedtime, at which point she utterly collapsed. We received a visit from Grandpa, and a whole stack of cards in the mail--in fact, nothing but cards; no junk mail or bills whatsoever. Some of the cards may have been for Mommy, too.

Naomi at the frozen
yogurt store.

We had a lot to celebrate this week, it being our first official week of homeschooling (more later), so we decided that everyone could find something they liked at the frozen yogurt store. I piled colorful yogurt and even more vibrant toppings into the big girls' cups, and three types of fruit into Naomi's, along with a little vanilla yogurt. It was love at first bite. Whereas the other girls were a bit more tentative and surprised with regards to their first frozen treats, Naomi was begging for more. "That stuff--right there! I'll have more of that!" I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Fortunately, no screams were necessary--there was plenty.

Among other things, Mommy celebrated the fact that Naomi is fully toddling around on her own! She had been taking steps for months, but still preferring the speed she could gain by pulling me around with her. Not that I don't enjoy accompanying her on her adventures, I just sometimes miss being able to stand in one place and wash the breakfast dishes before lunchtime--or dinner. It's taken the toddler a while to accept the fact that she can, indeed, toddle on her own, but now that she has, we're both proud and content. Content is a wonderful thing to be, and truly grounds for celebration.

And who better to lead the way than a couple of sweet big sisters? Kalina and Elise did an excellent job helping make sure Naomi had a lovely day. While big sisters sometimes take the spotlight off of you, hide away your coolest toys and wake you during naptime, they are also great for making sure you get your fair share of spoiling before you're old enough to demand it for yourself. Hence all the fruit.

Although we all enjoyed Naomi's actual birthday, we saved the party for the weekend when Daddy could attend. We love birthday parties. As such, Kalina and Elise began planning an elaborate woodland-animal-themed party for their baby sister. We got the idea because Naomi has attached to a hedgehog puppet, and once I scaled down the grandiose plans to only include a craft, some decorations and a little imaginative play, along with pizza, fruit and a hedgehog cake, of course, we ended up with a very nice party! By the skin of our teeth....

Saturday was my birthday, too. For my birthday, I wanted to have my friends over to celebrate my baby's birthday. Who wouldn't? I also wanted a restaurant meal and some cake. Instead, as our efforts to shield Kalina and Naomi from our raging head colds failed, we postponed until Sunday. This was fine: in some ways, it worked out better.

We decided to make this the big present-opening day, and Naomi had a field day toddling around from one colorful gift (and bow) to the next. Although she only made short stops to see her actual presents, she loved the activity, and especially seeing Grandpa. The big sisters appreciated the new influx of toys, and we spent the whole day telling them, "Be sure to let Naomi play, too," which they would've if she could've settled down long enough to.


In fact, Naomi just loved toddling, being now, officially, a toddler. Toddle, toddle, toddle. She pulled along a small puppy pull-toy she'd received, she paused to toy around with her new gifts, she opened her books and carried around some bows, but mostly she toddled from one interesting sight or person to the next. In her own way, she had a very enjoyable day. I only wish we could've gone outside more--she loves the outdoors--but we would've melted her like a birthday candle.

And did I mention Naomi received a ball pit? She can climb in and out, and seemed gratified to finally, finally get to taste any ball pit ball she wanted--a forbidden privilege in the ball pit at the kids' museum. From her big sisters she got a peg toy, which they picked out with her help at a toy store.

The next day, I forged ahead on the hedgehog cake and the big girls helped me put the finishing touches on the decor. We'd only invited a couple guests (after all, Naomi is just a little one!), and they started arriving. As Grandpa patiently held Naomi up to enthusiastically bat at the balloons, the bigs donned forest animal masks with a friend and started crawling around the house (cute! The masks worked!), and soon Elise was rushing into the bathroom to throw up. Shortly before the final guests pulled into our driveway.

The good news? Elise gets so excited sometimes that she just has to throw up. Once it happened when she ate three slices of bacon (and she refuses to eat that many ever again), another time over Thanksgiving. And we love her for it. In this case, as we later realized, the culprit was the treat box she was anticipating at the end of the party, and especially the gummy bunnies. It happened several more times (upstairs, with our guests fully warned and graciously deciding to stay anyway) until Matt finally got the bright idea to hand over the box and let her dig into the gummies. Fully cured, she soon returned to the party and was hopping around again in her role as Bunny.

It was really hard to convince the
hoppity bunny to stay still for the
picture.

Naomi enjoys seeing new faces, watching big kids play and being part of the activity, so she was not traumatized by her party--and I suppose at age 1, that's what we're going for. In fact, the cake was probably the hardest part. While she was thrilled to be given a slice of watermelon ahead of time (the pizza order not having gone through--eek!!), she wasn't so sure about the cake itself. So that she wouldn't shriek and scream and demand to be out of her chair (like most mealtimes), I let her have a small taste as we were all getting ready for the candle lighting. She liked it. So much that she wanted to grab the whole baby hedgehog cupcake away from me, lit candle and all. We tugged of war, and I won--actually, I suppose you could say we all won. She enjoyed the cake, but in the end preferred the blueberries she received afterward: the ultimate treat.

Naomi consented to sit in her chair for
cake, but only once she tasted it (she
didn't believe me that it was tasty,
having been fed meat and veggies
before on the very same tray).

I should mention that Kalina and Elise spearheaded the party effort. I won't pretend that the promise of cake and goody boxes at the end didn't fuel some of the good-natured energy, but if there's one thing those two have learned over the years, it's how to celebrate a birthday. Plenty of treats, favorite guests, a festive attitude and lots of fun.

In many ways, Naomi is still the mixture of sweet and serious we saw in her earliest weeks, and it's been delightful to watch her personality start to shine. Relational and studious, she's more than happy to involve you in whatever she's learning (like how to flip open Mommy's Kindle), but drag her away too soon and she's less than thrilled. Naomi is certainly a happy baby, but one constantly on a mission. She gets really excited about them ("I'm going to bring you all the stuffed animals from that corner! Look, there's more! I'll bring those too, don't even try to stop me!" or, "Here are my shoes, now we're going outside.")

Naomi and her good-natured party
guests!

The baby/toddler loves balls (as most 1-year-olds do), and is more likely to kick or throw a ball around with Daddy than either of her big sisters. She enjoys peekaboo, hugs and pens, and she loves playing the piano, especially if you can hold her up on the bench rather than simply putting her in your lap. Naomi likes books, and even seems to have favorites: The Big Red Barn, Sleepy Time, Pat the Bunny, Where is Baby's Belly Button and one that has a dog with a squeaky nose. She especially likes, however, flipping through a thicker book or magazine to feel the pages as they flip past her fingers.

Naomi has started to mimic (she loves to "write lists" in Daddy's listing notebook, just like Daddy, and put on makeup just like Mommy), and is amazing at sharing--offering toys unprompted, and at times to complete strangers, no less. Will it last? She'll certainly get lots of practice around here, and she'll be learning from the best.

Naomi has been known to say ball, ma and hi (and lots of other things, according to her big sisters: "I think she kind of said 'outside!'" and the like), but is more likely to prattle her emotions without saying the actual words. Nevertheless, we're pretty good at distinguishing her, "I'm really annoyed about the situation I'm in" feelings from her, "I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing" feelings. With all the chatter we hear, I'm certain Naomi will be filling us in a bit more specifically soon.

Naomi gives the best hugs!

The girl still doesn't like sitting in her high chair or carseat any longer than she absolutely must, and detests diaper changes ("I have to lay here for two whole minutes???"). She does, however, enjoy her crib and can run back and forth in it.

None of us can believe we've had the baby/toddler for a year now, but we're all excited about the next one with our sweet girl! Happy birthday, Naomi! We love you!


At the pediatrician on Monday, Naomi weighed 16 lbs., 10 ounces, and was in the 42nd percentile for height. Tall and thin, once again! She also held up surprisingly well to her shots and finger prick, having missed her nap but caught a head cold, poor thing.

A very popular toy they could
all pay with at the same time!

Who came first?

Anyone want this stick?
Naomi and her favorite
hedgehog toy.

Many times during the day, I'm glad that Naomi is a firstborn. Confident, somewhat adventurous, strong-willed, relational and smart, she'll be a great leader of her sisters. She knows what she wants and how to get it--and has a lot of wants. Always preferring to walk through her toys rather than around them, and monopolize as much of Mommy's attention as possible, she clearly takes the lead. Naomi loves to learn new things and play with others. Which is why it's a shame that the baby of the family wasn't actually born first.

Kalina and her very, very detailed zoo!
They then proceeded to let each of
their people take home pets from it.

Then there's Kalina, my middle child. She's often needed someone to go ahead of her to face the giants (preschool teachers and other adults), and let her know they're not actually ogres, someone to reassure her that the backyard and basement are unscary places to play, even without a grownup, and someone to bike and swim before she does so she knows it's totally doable. And yet she's so lovely with younger kids (when she's not chasing the neighbor boy with a baseball bat, that is), it'd be a loss if she didn't have a little sibling to dote on. Now if only she'd managed to wedge herself between her two sisters in birth order when she was born.

For breakfast on her
birthday, Pink Bear was
served cake and chocolate
ice cream. Yum!

And finally, my youngest child, Elise. Cheerful, easygoing, a little goofy and able to keep up with kids twice her age (yet still needing Mommy snuggles on occasion), she's the perfect caboose to our train. She makes her sisters laugh and keeps us all in high spirits, plus she's always happy to be the "kid" or "kitten" when playing "Mom/Kid" or "Owner/Kitten." She never holds grudges very long, and was the easiest baby. Clearly, she's the ideal youngest child--happy to go along with whatever her big sisters have dreamed up, and make it even more fun. Too bad she's stuck in the middle instead.

It would seem that mistakes have been made, but I'm sure it's all in order somehow. Still, the point remains: who messed up my kids' birth order? And what do we do now? Maximize strengths? Minimize difficulties? Merely survive?

Happy 34th, Matt!

As I've learned over my 3+ years of intense sleep deprivation (nearing an end! Really!), what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger--or at least able to endure more of it. Which means that it probably does Kalina good to have to forge her own way, and Naomi good to go with the flow and Elise good to...well...honestly, Elise could make anything work. Elise will, however, never consent to be the ignored middle child--or she would voice her concerns at a very high decibel level.

Seeing as this shakeup will mean our family's dynamics will be quite different from the way either Matt or I grew up, we'll be looking forward to seeing how everyone gets along. That's putting it rather mildly. For instance, take Kalina. A rules-following firstborn, she leads her sisters in All That's Right. Yes, she laughs when Elise says poop (a million times a day). She is, after all, only 6. But she warns Elise not to do so when I'm around (I overhear). Thanks--I think? And she exercises caution in all things, encouraging anyone within earshot to do the same. Plus, with Big Sister Kalina at the helm, her little sisters will always feel heard and appreciated. Kalina is also happy to occasionally let them take the lead, especially when deeply engrossed in imagining birthday parties for stuffed animals and whatnot.  I imagine she'll bring a combination of good sense and imagination to all their troubles over the years, too.

Uncle Brian visited! And
Naomi let him hold her!

And then there's Naomi. What if she actually were my oldest child? Case in point--here's how Naomi is learning to walk:

1. Grab Mommy's hands and contort my body such that I'm standing, and Mommy has no choice but to be pulled along behind. Whew, I'm on my feet.

2. Writhe, flail, scream, whatever, whenever Mommy sits me down. Whew, we're walking again.

3. Walk everywhere, all the time. With Mommy. Because I must.

4. Run everywhere, all, the time, with Mommy.

5. Run to Mommy and collapse in her arms. Then to Daddy. Keep doing this to practice.

6. Run, collapse, run, collapse. I'm walking!

7. Run, don't walk, everywhere I go. Have a Big Person near me at all times to make sure I don't splat on my face, or worse. 

It's tough to be on the inside
looking out!

Naomi will conquer the world, as long as someone's there to catch her when the world occasionally conquers her.

As the oldest child, the baby could teach her sisters a thing or two about "taking the plunge" if she'd let them (I'm thinking of swim lessons...). Naomi would certainly be a fun big sister to Kalina and Elise, and Kalina need never fear even the darkest corner of the basement with Naomi in the lead, but who knows where the three of them would end up, or how far they could get at a run under Naomi's direction? 

Elise as an oldest child would also be lots of fun, but maybe a little too much, unless her position brought out rules-following capabilities that I'm as yet unaware of. Actually, considering her sense of humor, Elise does a good job of going along with the rules, which may be partially attributable to her positive nature and positive role model. But she loves mischief (fortunately, only mischief and not actually trouble) a bit too much for my sanity, and if she were at the lead, I would never be able to find my shoes.

We had a pre-bedtime "sleepover!"

And it's probably a good thing that Kalina isn't "stuck" in the middle, as her ability to lose herself to other worlds (in daydreaming-meets-dawdling style) could get her lost between her sisters, too. We would miss our Kalina! 

Naomi in the middle, as the strongest willed of the three (as far as I can tell) could overrule both her sisters, unless she settled down a bit in toddlerhood (and she may). It might take her big sisters as a united front, in fact, to not get plowed over. 

Elise is no slouch to play with either, though, and her usually cheerful disposition, emotional intuition and relational nature will smooth over a myriad of troubled emotions over the years, whether they come from her big sister or her little one. And as our guaranteed extrovert (the jury is still out on Naomi), she'll find it a relief to virtually always have someone around to talk to.

At Grandpa's house.

As youngest child, however, Elise would easily get babied and fussed over, and with two older sisters to follow might never come into her own. But wouldn't she be adorable? She'd enjoy the attention and would happily go along with whatever games and ideas her sisters could dream up. "Let's dress Elise up like a Christmas tree and then decorate her!" Sure! "Let's pretend Elise is a baby bird and sit on her until she hatches!" Why not?

Kalina as youngest would never, ever, ever get her way, save through major threats from me directed at her elders. She'd be very well protected, however, and that may be worth it to her in the end.

Staying up late for fireworks!

But who could survive the "youngest" role better than Naomi? Babyhood aside, she has a need to learn--and a talent for study, too. Most content when she's "working" on something, she'll enjoy the endless parade of newness her big sisters present to her. And rest assured, she will find a way to have her say, even overruling the two "bigs," being the strongest willed and a very shrill, loud screamer to boot (and mighty cute!). She's also charismatic and engaging, coercing us to play with her even from across the room. "Here's a toy for you, and a giant smile to go with it! But you'll have to come to me to get it, I won't come to you!" And we virtually always do. Because, after all, she's our baby.