Kayla......................

So, Kayla just turned four years old, and she is still as high maintenance as she ever was!! For instance, she is very specific about what cup she uses, what spoon she stirs with and what underwear she is wearing for the day. Even more strange, is what she needs to sleep with. On most nights, this is the inventory you will find with her as she dozes into dreamland: 4 small stuffed dogs, 2 medium sized stuffed dogs, 1 larger stuffed dog, a very large princess story pillow, five plastic dinosaurs, 5 brand new kleenexes (these must be replaced every night), 2 flashlights, a cinderella laptop computer, 3 purses, a blanket, a scarf, sometimes a pair of curtain sashes, 4-5 dresses, 3-4 skirts, a princess bath towel, a cup of juice, small plastic disney figurines, a small cinderella doll........this group is sometimes added too or taken away from from night to night, but is always ridiculous. Kayla also sleeps in a silver pair of shoes and her winter coat. She has a specific bedtime routine, that must be followed, or mass pandemonium can break out at any moment - 3 bedtime stories, 1 made up story, read the princess story pillow, play two games on the laptop, play duck-duck-goose with the dogs in her bed, say prayers, hug and kiss the real dog, spell her name out on the wall with a flashlight, hug and kiss mom, close the door tightly and then affirm that the door has indeed been closed tightly. Whew! Tiring just to read it, isn't it?
But, Kayla is extremely loving, caring and welcoming to everybody. She is very passionate. She senses people who need Christ's love and loves them unconditionally. She is bold, and will remind anyone at the table in a restaurant that we need to pray before we eat. We deal with the OCD, because I see how God is developing an incredibly strong-willed girl to be a bold witness for Him someday. But, man is it challenging at times!! She is very intelligent, and thinks and reasons beyond her four years. We always have to be a few steps ahead of her, which is a chore at times, you can see her wheels are always turning. She even knows who she wants to marry and is inviting people to her wedding next year! Scary, yes, but this is Kayla in her stong-will and drive to accomplish in life.
She is the first-born of two first-born parents, so I suppose she is genetically doomed to be high-maintenance for life...she comes by it honestly, after all!