A little something, something called Annike

Annike Maria is my 3-1/2 year old. Her name came to me from the pages of one of my favorite books as a child, Pippi Longstocking; and, as much as I adore spunky Pippi, our Annike shares her name with Pippi's curious and loyal neighbor. For those of you who don't hear her name pronounced, you should know that the correct way to say it is "On-ee-kah." If you ever meet her and make the mistake of mispronouncing her name, she'll set you straight. Her middle name is for my mom (her middle name) and Lars' mom (Mary, the Anglo version of Maria). Like her big brother and sister, Annike is a Taurus; according to a friend of ours, having more than one Taurus in a single home is a recipe for disaster. For now, that friend is wrong, our 3-big kids generally have a very harmonious existence.

Jumping in the waves at Torrey Pines.

Annike is our happy-go-lucky, independent little punk. She always has something nice to say, but she has plenty of attitude. A day doesn't go by when we don't see Annike with her hip popped out to one side with a fist resting on it and a defiant look on her face as she spells out the who, what, when, where and why to anyone who dares to contradict her sensibilities. Since she was a teeny-tiny pudding, she has always been her most content when she is snuggled between Lars and me with an arm wrapped around each of us.

When she isn't snuggled in with Mommy or Daddy, Soren will make a good substitute.

As it turns out, Annike is just as smart at the big guys. She's able to print very well, Spanish is her favorite subject at her Montessori school, and she's begun to 'read' Soren's early reader books to Lars and me. Today she told her siblings and me all about the 3-different penguins she learned about and concurred with Soren that their necks are, indeed, called crops.

Her best two buddies are 'Boodiana' (Ariana) from school and Jack, the next door neighbor. Boodiana is great for getting her princess and dress-up fixes. Annike and Boodi share an equal passion for all things frilly and fancy, pink and posh. Boodi's mommy is also our wonderful dentist and will regularly inspect our children's teeth during play dates in lieu of having us make appointments. Good old Jack is a superb buddy for a play session of family or baby-mommy, usually he plays the part of the Mexican nanny who anxiously searches the 'house' for the "chupetta" (Spanish for pacifier). However, usually the two of them end up in a good old fashioned wrestling match in which Annike typically holds her own. Since the two of them still have that fabulously soft toddler build they usually come out of their wrestling rounds unscathed.

If you ask Annike who her best friend is, she'll probably tell you all about Milo. Milo is Annike's brilliant and darling cousin who lives in DC. She fell in love with him when they were both tiny littles, though Milo is actually 19-months younger than her she thinks of him as a peer. Daily, she brings up Milo's upcoming visit in March and speaks breathlessly of all her plans for him (sandbox, playground, zoo, sleeping in her princess bed with her and playing family together).

Everyone who meets Annike falls in love with her. It's true! She's cute and funny and sweet and precious and completely irresistible. She rarely misbehaves and she lavishes love on Lars and me with glorious abandon. She drives her big sister nuts, but also sucks Petra in to her sweetness and vivacity. Her energy is infectious to Soren, she can bring out the best in him. And, if Tova is in the room with Annike, then Annike will have her lips locked on her and tugging on one of her limbs to try and hold her.

So, despite recently putting gum in her hair, pouring an entire new bottle of lavendar baby wash down the drain, squishing the daylights out of Tova, or doing her back-talking "3-Snaps in Z Formation" routine to her siblings, Annike is our very yummy and splendisiously super-dog amazing little girl and the Earth would absolutely fall off its axis without her.

Annike dressed as a professional football player from the San Diego Chargers.