i showed reagan this picture and asked her what she thought about it. i asked her what i should write. she told me *you love me*. yes, yes, i do believe i love her. although i tell her 30-40 times a day that i love her, she will ask me sometimes if i love her. my answer? more than anything else in this whole wide world. however, it seems to me to be the understatement of the year. . .

four friends. at 3 1/2 years, friends are already very important to her. she calls them *tha frayands* . she loves for me to make lists of *tha frayands* for her. last count, she had over 75 which also included a selection of family pets, friends from school, family members, our favorite waitress at our favorite restaurant, basically everyone she knows. she takes the lists from me and puts them away in her room. the ironic thing is that she recognizes the importance of each and everyone of them. it took me a lot longer to learn that.

every night, reagan wants to hear stories about me as a child or about her as a baby. i began telling her a story of playing with my sister in our shared room as a child. she asked about our room and i gave her details of our rooms. i described to her how my brother grew up and moved out of my parents house, then my sister, and then me. one day, i told her, you will too grow up and move out, have your own family, your own house. emphatically, she told me no and that she always wanted to live with me. awww, how i would love to keep her little and living with me forever.

my baby is no longer a baby, though sometimes, she does still like me to cradle her at bedtime. i oblige. we recently did some test-runs trying out the new toddler bed with lovely strawberry shortcake linens and covers. it was a no go. even though i wanted to sleep all alone for once, i secretly enjoyed her crawling in the bed with me after a few tears and *mommy, i wanna sleep in YOUR bed*.