I am so tricksy, I swear. So M was getting really upset with his sister last week over something trivial. I think actually she was a bit bored and was pretending not to understand something he was trying to explain to her. Anyway, he's become a little bit obsessed with winning recently (though could not, to me and Uncle S's great delight, explain the difference between winning and losing), so I tried a little psychology. You know, M, you're just letting your sister upset you (man, I heard that a million times when I was a kid). No, I'm not! Yes, you are, and the thing is, if you let her upset you, she wins. And you don't want that, now do you?

That stumped him. Figure I've got at least a few more days before he comes up with a clever rejoinder.

As far as L goes, I just inadvertantly discovered a surefire cure for angry tantrums. She's so cute when she gets mad, I just can't stand it. So the last few times, I just laughed and grabbed my digital camera and tried to get a shot off. But upon seeing the camera come out, she started mugging for it and then insisting on seeing herself on the lcd screen (she's a bit vain), anger completely forgotten.