Thanks for Polly.

Who's the funniest, bossiest little sidekick in all the land? That would be Polly.

As the youngest of four children, Polly may have felt the need to differentiate herself from the very beginning. She refused--REFUSED to take a binky, though the other three loved their binkies more than life itself. She sucks her thumb instead. She loves to lie on my chest and snuggle before bed, which my other kids didn't like to do as much. She is still nursing at 18 months, which is longer than any of the other ones lasted. I feel like both the snuggling and the nursing might be tied somehow to the lack of a binky. Hello, I'll totally take it! Also, for whatever reason, she detests bananas, and this almost feels like it's against some sort of family code. Also, she is super spoiled and gets away with things like walking all over the house with food in her hand or mouth. I never ever ever ever ever let the other kids do this. So, that one is my fault.

The other morning we had the extra car seat from Matt's car in our living room because Matt needed the space when he took my parents to the airport. I walked into the living room to find that Theo had placed the car seat on the couch and strapped Polly in. She loved it. She luxuriated in it. She sat in it (buckled, mind you) for 20 minutes, brushing her matted bedhead hair with a pink Barbie brush, singing to herself, sucking her thumb, folding her arms, refusing to get out until I finally bribed her with gum so that we wouldn't be late for her 18-month checkup at the doctor.

If you ever hear me complaining about being tired, or about my back hurting, or about fingerprints and scribbles on the walls, or about all the sticky stuff on the floors, or about all the random stuff I find in the trash can that doesn't belong there, or about the half-eaten lollipops I find in the car. Please just remind me what an amazing gift it is to hang out with this little girl all day every day. Wow, so thankful for her.