"Hi, Lydia!"

On a generally all-around good day, my niece Lydia was the icing on my cake.

Harry, who has been fussy for almost a week, was his happy, wonderful, non-cranky self today. My dad came over to babysit and brought sweet potato stew for lunch. Barack Obama suggested nominating Sanjay Gupta as the next Surgeon General, which amused me. And then while I was getting dinner together, on a night when Kevin and I actually got to eat together and at the same time, my sister called. Apparently Lydia, who is 16 months old, was repeating my name and pointing to my picture, so her mommy called me and Lydia and I had a chat.

I love that she wants to talk to me. This time last year she wasn't even as old as Harry is now, she was living a six-hour drive away, and I had only seen her three times. I love that she lives five minutes away from me now, and I love that I get to be one of the people that she covers with Sesame Street stickers.