SWEET SIXTEEN

Cousin Abby, who is the closest female cousin Van has (in age), just turned sixteen and is perhaps behind the wheel right now in suburban Connecticut. So stay off the sidewalks. Vanners also just turned sixteen months. She stands in the driver's seat, but thankfully she can not reach the gas pedal.

Cousin Abby has red wavy hair that goes very light strawberry ("stroo-bah") blonde in the sun. Just like VH1. Abby catches frogs, wears ball gowns, is a top student, a natural swimmer, and an aspiring thespian. A lot like Vanners.

This week, as Van and I have been out and about town, redheads have been pouring out of the woodwork to let me know there is a personality to go with the hair. Uh oh.

"Has to have her way," they say. Yes.

"Wears her heart on her sleeve," they say. Yes.

"Insistent. Won't take 'no' for an answer," they say. Yes, yes.

"Hard to deal with," they even say. No!

These are redheads talking about themselves, mind you.

Granny - our redheaded octogenarian - even tells tales about her stint as a difficult child. She'd lie down on her back and sing hymns to protest going out the door, or have to be held on her daddy's lap and be hand-fed and coddled just to get her vegetables down. That kind of thing.

We all joke about how cousin Julia - also of red hair fame - must have had an exorcism or something around the age of 10. She was a little rascal prior to that - most of her photos show her making a fiendish face to prove it.

Redheaded boy cousins Daniel and Matthew were admittedly a bit feral. "Whipper-snapper" is not a term that could, um, capture their brand of energy and mischief. We called them The Roadrunners instead. We're still surprised how nicely they've smoothed out as young professional men in their 20s.

Redheaded cousin Corey was certainly a free spirited, clothing-optional kind of toddler, but she too has developed into a perfectly respectable, fully clothed adult.

Cousin Andy, who has fire engine red hair, may have had a few instances of being a daredevil, sure. Like the time we took him to the hot wing joint and told him the #4 was the hottest wing we'd ever seen eaten. What does he order? A #7 - so hot they serve only one, then take your picture and put it on the wall if you can eat it and still pose for the camera. And the time he reluctantly agreed to try the high dive at the lake, but, once committed, did flips all the way down into a belly flop landing. Andy is in the Navy now. He's still pretty go-for-it, even by Navy standards.

Redheaded cousin Des isn't wild or willful. Neither are redheaded uncles, Jimmy and Mike, or Auntie Sally. They are all normal. Well, Uncle Mike is pretty go-for-it, come to think of it.

Daddio and I wouldn't change a thing about our little baby daughter. We both enjoy her big hair and her big personality, too. Did you know she can climb stairs, left foot, right foot, left foot, and uses the handrail instead of our hand? She's our big, big girl.