my little girl

Most of my parenting discussion on this blog occurred in the first few years I was a parent, so it was heavily weighted to a discussion of our son, NJ.  Once our daughter, CD, came along I either did not have as much time to post, or the experiences were similar to what I had already posted.  It would be a mistake for me to progress too many years without acknowledging the impact she has had on our family and how truly unique a girl she is, though.

Last month CD turned five years old.  Five years ago when she came along was a very scary time for me.  The economy was headed down the tubes faster than I thought possible and I felt it threatened my job as much as anyone's, I was trying to wrap up my degree program, and we were trying to figure out how to manage both NJ's and CD's needs.  NJ was very jealous of the time and attention that CD required, and so he went into a six-month-long (or longer) melancholy stage where he was very moody.  CD on the other hand, required more effort and interrupted more of our sleep as a baby than NJ had.  She was not born into easy times.  I never regretted having CD, but I did question our wisdom in thinking we could manage everything that was on our plates at the time.

Fast forward five years and we cannot imagine our family without CD.  She is very intelligent, has an incredible personality, and (not to place too much importance on looks) is a very pretty girl.  But most of all she is undeniably unique.  In a house full of introverts she is the one who wants to go out and do things.  In a house full of less imposing individuals she leaves her mark wherever she goes.  In a family full of people who want to observe she likes to perform.  In a family that is largely inactive she has energy and spunk.

Of course, all of this coupled with her ornery nature causes her to require a bit more hands-on parenting than NJ did at the same age.  There is no doubt that she is worth the effort, though.