The three faces of Pen

Growing up, whenever we would start to "ooh" and "ahh" over a sweet baby, my dad would always kill the mood by cooing, "They're false advertising..." And while I would always have a really intelligent response along the lines of "duh, Dad, I know babies are lots of work," there was still that portion of me that refused to believe that I would ever share such a cynical perspective of little ones.

Well, let's move forward about 15 years. We attend a church that is full of couples just like us: married and trying to get through school. I love it, I really do, and we make such great friends there. But often, when these newlyweds look at Penelope all dewy-eyed and swoon over what a beautiful, sweet child she is, I feel like I have a responsibility to clear up one major misconception: Life is not always this sweet with a 15-month-old.

You see, Penelope has three states of being.

She is very often delightful. This is the most common state for her -- cheerful, silly, curious. She is a complete ham, and people fall in love with it (myself included!).

And you may also find her being docile. Content to amuse or read to herself. These moments are treasured and increasingly rare.

But then there is the rest of the time. I often call it her demon-child state, but I suppose defiant is a more politically correct term. These are the times that I just dread what life will be like when she is actually two...

I couldn't bear to actually post a video of her having a meltdown, but here is a clip that cuts off right before she devolves into one.