What Did We Do Before Kiera?

I feel like all we do is complain lately so I asked the kids what their favorite part of being in our family was. It was unanimous, Kiera. She is the life of our home. She is a giggle a minute. Of course that minute is after an hour long tantrum for not getting her way but it's such a great minute.

She has a firm grasp on manipulation and uses it to control each of us to do her bidding. I am her channel changer, urine disposer, food source, and I can't forget the taster of all the meals she prepares in her tiny kitchen while holding her latest baby.

My DH keeps her warm, helps her reach up and touch the ceiling at her command, her seat mate at dinner, and her defender when the kids piss her off.

You would really think that Cyr, 13, would be more help than she is with her. Anything she offers to do is far out weighed by her constant giggles when Kiera is mouthing off to me or hits another kid. She is working on that, Cyr not the baby.

Patches adores her. She will do almost anything she says. She can reach Patches' heart with the tiniest whisper "I love you so much" when the rest of us scream it from the roof tops to no avail.

Ruthie would be perfectly content being her mother. In fact, that is her favorite game. It is hard for her to carry Kiera with her cast on but that doesn't stop her from getting on the floor every afternoon and playing puppies.

Michael, like Cyr, thinks her aggressiveness is funny. He refuses to work on it but we are giving him some wiggle room since he also thinks farts are funny. She sees him as her personal wrrestling partner. She pins him so fast he hits his head. He is terrified she will get hurt so he pretty much lays there and takes it.

Emma is still a little shell shocked from the series of biting incidents. She has traumatized Emma and she winces when she tries to get close to her. It will pass and they will be best friends again soon.

Ava is always worried she will get in trouble if the child screams and is constantly held hostage by the darn 2 yr old. Now that is funny. She will rush around trying to get her to stop. She will will become silent the second you give her what you have. Poor Ava.

Ella is also held hostage but with her new found attitude she throws the item on the floor and pouts like she is the 2 yr old. Ella is a sucker for singing with her so she demands things like, "Happy Birthday" or "Sunshine" and she is expected to know where to start in the song and do it immediately. There is always multiple songs in a row and about 1/3 of each is sung, randomly.

It's funny to hear her call them to her and demand they play with her or do their chore. She knows how to work them and if you watch, she will smile afterward. Lately, her thing is to compare everything to her birth sister, Lexie. She will tell them "Lexie likes it" or My Lexie loves me". She is wicked smart, smarter than several of the kids and uses it to her advantage. At some point, I will have to intervene and protect the big kids from her scemes and plans to take over the world. For now though I can be seen darting across the room to save them from her slaps, kicks, and pinches. She is quick and has an amazing ability to find your weakest spot.

She loves to talk on the phone and will always cut you off with "Love you bye". I am the one one that hears the other end profess their love back at her. When she is done, she is done and long gone before you can reply.

I am almost afraid to mention that her nights are improving and she seems to have stopped waking up after every nap or in the morning to 20 minutes of screaming in my ear. She is opening up to having her own bed but only if it is right next to my side. I'm not sure how I will get out of bed but at least I will be able to turn over. I'm sure we are a long way from her sleeping through the night.

She likes to pick out her clothes and has 13 shoes. You read that right, the mates to all the shoes are gone. I think she eats them. She isn't picky about the size of the shoes she wears or who they belong to. More than once I have had to take a screaming child to the van after taking off her Daddy's size 15 flip flops off her feet. You can not explain to her why they aren't appropriate attire over her ear drum rupturing sounds.

That will all come to a halt once she notices her lovey next to her car seat. Anything can be fixed by just the presence of her lovey. She will go back to that sweet little girl we all adore. Usually, she has already begun singing with Ella or making farting sounds for her brother getting him to giggle when he is becoming anxious.

She is the center of our family. She has taught all my other children to be careful and how to care about her tiny life. She has helped them heal in ways I could never do. She has a heavy load to carry here and no one else could do it as well as she does. She loves each one of them "so much" and asks me a hundred times a day when her "guys will be home" from school. The second they run through the door, she jumps up to the table for snack and begins trying to trick them into giving her theirs.