the understudy

Isn't it funny how your kids can seem so little for so long and then seemingly overnight, they sprout up and are suddenly a bit more mature? I remember the first time I noticed it, number 2 was just a wee baby. I put him in his crib for a nap and I swear he awoke 3 inches taller.

My friend, who-must-remain-nameless-lest-she-fall-down-stairs, (but swears she was not talking about me the day I tripped over my blowy-flowy billowy britches) and I were noticing how number 5 is all of a sudden a big girl. She has come into her own, as they say. (Don't ask ME who "they" is... I thought you knew!?!?) She is a bit of a drama queen. It is rawther funny I must say. If you tell her something she doesn't want to hear, the shoulders droop in one big movement, she emits a low Marge Simpson-like growl, and will occasionally follow it up with a guttural grunt/sigh all rolled into one.

Keep in mind she is three.

The thing is, with four older siblings, she is doomed. I try to convince them that they are role models and that their younger siblings soak all this up like sponges, never missing a trick; they just don't get it. But, after what happened today, perhaps I need to look in the mirror and cast not the stones.......In a fit of frustration, she shook her little fists, threw them down to her sides and growled, "Dummmmit!"

oops.