I've lost count of the number of people who have pronounced Danny as "all boy." He is new territory to my side of the family, given that my parents had two daughters and three granddaughters before his arrival. He's also new territory to Tim and me, because Clare is a girly-girl, and (for the most part) exceptionally obedient. Now, I'm not saying that he never listens to us, but I am baffled by his propensity to hit and throw. He has a compulsion to have a stick in his hands 90% of the time, and if a ball is within a square mile of him, he is determined to get his hands on it. Most recently, while I thought he was playing peacefully by himself in the playroom, he was really dining on the eraser at the end of a pencil (better that than the other end, I suppose). Add to all of this his new-found answer to every reprimand: "Why, Mommy?" So I engage in the age-old answer": "Because I said so!" Then he flashes his crinkle-nosed smile, my straight face melts, and all disciplinary hope is lost!
