You'll never know, dear, how much I love you

My pixie ... she's a kid every parent should have the pleasure of enjoying. While probably the most complex of our four, she's worth every bit of patience her two-year-old tantrums demand and returns the love you give in her own special way.

She's my mystery, a calming force and some days a true test of will. Sweet and oh, so innocent in one breath, while a moment later bursting with frustration and exhaustion over one of life's smallest challenges. A ying and a yang all wrapped up in one little package.

And while she's impressively smart, has an extensive vocabulary for her age and becomes more independent each day, I worry most about her. She's sandwiched between a drama queen in the truest form and a pair who garner attention because they're simply that - a pair. It seems some days that once the others have greedily soaked up their share of the attention, she's stuck in the middle, shortchanged.

At the same time, it might be this middle spot she's found herself in the reason she's who and what she is, and that's incredibly special. She possesses skills in patience and independence that an oldest child would never develop and a family's baby doesn't get the chance to because he or she (or in our case he AND she) is "babied."

The pixie has it all going for her, though. A sense of humor that makes you laugh, a soft side that melts your heart and the ability to take in the world through eyes all her own. Sometimes a clown, sometimes a fighter, sometimes an angel, but always my sunshine.