There's a Toddler In My House--I'm Not Sure How She Snuck In...

Once upon a time, a mama gave birth to a baby girl.

She was the sweetest little thing you ever had laid eyes on. Charming, genial, lovable, even-tempered, agreeable... she was everything a mother could ask for in a little baby girl.

The baby girl turned one and the mama thought how lucky she was--surely her daughter was the most precious daughter ever.

Then one day, there was a change in the winds. Suddenly the baby girl wasn't so charming--she was surly. Her genial, lovable personality was replaced by unfriendly and testy displays. She was downright cantankerous.

Her mother, ever the optimist, was certain this was just a phase.

Surely the ear-piercing screeching whilst banging on the high chair as a method of summoning her food of choice was just a phase.

Her defiantly dangerous scaling of the boys' Anywhere Chairs would come to an end tomorrow, her mother was confident.

When she made a habit out of swatting toys out of her baby friends' hands, her mother's diagnosis was fatigue, not brattiness.

Then one day, the sweet baby girl launched her sippy cup, and as it went whizzing by her mother's head it occurred to her--the baby girl was now a toddler girl.

The glory days are over.