KyKy

This cutest girl turned three yesterday, as you know. And it's so fun to celebrate Kyla. The good Kyla (because you know there are two). The one who makes me smile all the time. The one who walks around singing, "Opera and the Queen." The one who answered my whispered, "Your love is my drug" with "I like your beard."

Not the one who told me, "I'm going to throw Carter in jail!" And definitely not the one who said, "Carter is MY baby. ONLY mine. Not yours!"

Because most of the time, Kyla is still the happiest little girl around. But she's three. And she's going through her "toddler puberty," which means that SOMETIMES she has to make life miserable. And we don't celebrate her on those days. Just most days. Especially her birthday.

For her birthday, Kyla had to have, of course, a scooter of her own. And instead of a party, she opted for the new Shrek movie with her siblings. And then she prayed at dinner, "Thank you we can go to the Shrek movie." Ah, may she always be so easy to please.

Of course, turning three meant she had to give up her binkies. When I informed her that I was going to cut the nipples off all her binkies, she asked, "Cut off my nipples?" No, honey. Of course not. I'm going to cut off something that will hurt you much, much more.

We lined up all the binkies...

She had one last suck on each one...

And then I cut them off.

And she told me, "I'm going to cry without my binky." But she knows that now that she is three (and doesn't suck on her fingers anymore, like she did when she was two), she is too old for a binky. And her teeth are starting to show it. AND her orthodontist daddy isn't too happy. She was sad, and cried for a while.

Then she cried again at bedtime. I gave her one of the "nippleless binkies" to take to bed. She told me, "it won't stay in my mouth. I don't want it." Then she cried some more. And finally fell asleep. It only took a few minutes. I was expecting worse.

So, again today we are celebrating Kyla. I took her to Coldstone for her free birthday ice cream. She has been playing with all her presents from grandma and the neighbors. And mostly she has been reminding me how lucky I am to be her mom. Everyone should have a KyKy. Because besides having the best smile and the best little singing voice (which earned her a quarter from a white haired man in a tool store last week), she has the best little heart. She is the most likely child o' mine to share, to make peace, and to love. I love you! And your love really IS my drug.

P.S. Both Kyla's quotes at the beginning are from popular songs on the radio. "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy and "Your Love is my Drug" by Ke$ha.