sometimes i compare my kids

this little dab started walking a couple weeks ago.

she's almost 15 months, thank you very much ma'am.

she started crawling at 10 months and did it in the curious fashion of crawling with one knee on the ground while pumping and pushing with the foot of her other leg.

this is how she crawled.  always. never putting the other knee down.

so one leg got a lot stronger than the other, and now that she's walking she has a limp.

i fully expected her to only be able to walk in circles, but she's managing.

she took her sweet time, though.

except, she's been a great little climber for a while,

which sent up some red flags on the 

will-this-one-be-as-crazy-as-whitney-o-meter

that's always purring away in my brain.

yes.  i compare my children to one another.

it's how i prepare myself for what's coming.

like devan.

she gets measured up by the 

will-she-be-as-dramatic-as-nikki-o-meter

that's currently on RED ALERT in my brain.

it seems there's a glitch in my system, though.

i might need a newer model, or to re do my base-lines because devan is completely off the charts right now.


for example: lately she's taken to running away when she gets her feelings hurt, which could be cause by: touching her hair the wrong way, saying her name in the wrong pitch, giving someone else a compliment, offering her the wrong cereal, or any other endless scenarios.


i remember running away when i was a kid.  i'd get mad, pack all my clothes in a  paper grocery sack and climb out my window headed for the neighbors'.  they never wanted me, so i always ended up right back in my room.


the problem with devan running away (other than that she's barely four) is that she doesn't want to run to the neighbor's house.  she wants to be much further away than that.
so today (this is still a very new thing) she ran away, for who knows what reason, and after i realized she was gone we searched high and low and found her nowhere.  finally, a man from church was seen walking her down the street towards home.
she wasn't even going to his house.  he just happened to see her skulking down the street as he pulled in after work.
we went through the whole bit.
you could be lost.  you could be taken away by someone.  
yada yada yada.
and do you know what that cheeky little thing said to me?
"i want to be lost from here.  i want someone to take me far away."
i can understand her saying that if she'd been yelled at or gotten in trouble for something.
but there was none of that.  she just got butt-hurt about something and decided she wanted out.


how old is does this girl think she is?


i guess we will be employing the latch-system in full force once again.
and i thought we were in the clear after whitney. 
not so.
       

this all adds variety to my day, i keep telling myself (so i don't cry).  it's a good thing she's as awesome as she is.  it makes up for stuff.

and i'm still waiting for the chance to try out my

will-this-one-be-as-mellow-as-max-o-meter.

HA!

i should probably take that one back to the store.

at any rate, gwen is walking beautifully,

despite a touch of skootch leg.

she's so funny.


the only people obligated to watch this whole video are gwen's grandmas.
but i think it's cute.  so i'll watch it again.