Jennifer

Last night Jenny's boyfriend was over. I like him because whatever else may be wrong with him, he will at least sit down and talk to me and not act like its some sort of medieval torture. So last night, instead of dragging out all the naked baby pictures, I drug out all the stories. The bad ones. Because they are funny. Jennifer was irritated with me and asked me why I never tell good stories about her. And I felt a little badly about that so I thought it would be a good idea to post a little something on each of my girls to tell the world how great they are and how proud I am of them and how much I love them. And I promise to get to that part. But first I have to tell you the bad stories. Because they are funny. (And Jenny is going to be soooooooooo mad at me!) Hi honey!

Jennifer was born pissed off. She didn't just cry - she screamed and she'd scream at you. It

wasn't just about wanting something. She was mad as hell, and as such, usually got attention right away. This first photo catches her just before she was about to have a fit.

She was also the most beautiful baby I had ever seen in my life. To this day, I have yet to see a baby that rivals her beauty. (Lori Kish came close). People literally stopped us wherever we were to look with amazement at her. I remember taking her to the mall with me once and I was trying on a dress in a dressing room. The sales girl came in to assist me and when she saw Jenny laying there in her little carry seat, she called all the other sales girls in to look at her.

When Jenny was a baby, she used to bite her twin, Christine. We'd put them in a playpen together and after a little while, we'd hear Christine start a mournful cry. Invariably, we'd go in and there was Christine with a circle of big red teeth marks on her little arms or legs or back. We'd admonish Jennifer: "No! That is very bad. No biting!" and we'd pick Christine up to comfort her which would just make Jennifer mad so her face would turn 16 shades of red and she'd just stare at us and let out a banshee holler. So one day I heard this now familiar cry for help from Christine and I ran in to see the familiar teeth marks and there sat Jennifer with a "well my job is done" look on her face. Having had enough, I picked Jennifer up and oh so slowly and gently I started to bite Jennifer until I could get a little squeal from her. Once she felt it - she let out a blood curdling scream and I looked at her and her eyes had filled with crocodile tears and she looked at me with a "I thought you loved me, why would you do that to me" look and I thought I would die. Obviously, she, at the ripe old age of 1 year, had not made the connection I was trying to impress on her. Why had I done that? Remember - I was an insta-mom. What the hell did I know? From then on, we separated them into two playpens if they had to be left alone for a little while. Having lost her teething toy, she moved on to biting my shoulder whenever I held her.

When Jenny was between 3 and 4, we were enjoying a picnic on the beach. After a couple of bites, Jennifer set her sandwich down on the blanket next to her, a seagull hurried over and stole it from her. Jennifer was LIVID! She was so mad it made me laugh - but what came next topped it all. Shaking her little fist and as loud as she could manage she yelled at that bird: "Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!!!" Clearly she believed she was yelling at him fluently in his own tongue.

Jennifer was never one to just embrace what she didn't didn't want to.

She was often disappointed by experiences she had thought would be fun and for a while, she

showed no interest in anything at all so we sort of had to force her. We put Jenny and her sisters into dance. Here she is, posing to commemorate her first dance recital. She was never a girlie girl.

Similarly, even when it was seemingly in her best interest, she would go kicking and screaming. She didn't mind telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas but she didn't like having her picture taken. And she'd clearly take even Santa DOWN, if she had to.

When she was 7, she was adamant about dressing herself. One cold winter day when we had our friends the Barretts visiting, we were all dressed in sweaters and thermals and she decided to dress for the beach - mid July. I insisted she put on warmer clothes, and as always, it was a looooooooong battle (Moooooom! Its not even cold!!)but finally she relented because I was the mom. Once she returned, dressed properly, I told all the kids to go into the bedroom and find a game to play. Dragging her knuckles and lower lip on the ground with her, she muttered "What are we supposed to do? Have a sweating contest?" Ah, that's my little smart ass!

Her Girl Scout leader regularly asked me if I was sure I wanted Jennifer to stay in Scouts. She refused to wear her uniform and never stayed with her troop - but Jenny liked Girl Scout Snow Camp so she stuck it out - much to her leader's dismay.

She was intimidating to most kids. She never learned to edit herself so she would just be frank, at a time when most little kids want only to please. Jenny would get in your face. She was the shortest kid in her class but you better not mess with her or Christine cause she'd eat you for lunch. She went to Christian elementary school and would throw pencils during chapel. She was exasperating and I worried she would wind up with a million tattoos, riding on the back of a Hell's Angels bike.

What happened instead is that she took her lack of tolerance and turned it toward injustice. She cannot abide unkindness or neglect and will always stake a claim for the underdog. She has decided to go into nursing and she will likely end up in the Peace Corps or something like that after graduation because she wants to help the most unfortunate.

She doesn't care a wit about money (though she likes to spend it) and is embarrassed by extravagant consumption. She is the most well read 19 year old I know. She has the style of Audry Hepburn and Grace Kelly and has the talent for original fashion like Diane Keaton. She is equally comfortable dressed down or being glamorous. She is a Christian and when others acted like that was not cool, she let it roll off her back. She has a strong moral compass.

She can also still be a big pain in the ass. She can whine, and yell, and swear like a sailor, and pout, and have a tantrum - sort of like me. But she is also the only one of the four girls who will just see that the house needs cleaning and do it, without being asked. And she does a good job.

And she really wants me to love her. And I really, really do.