She's the Sassiest Thing

Peyton is, in a word, SASSY.
She never refrains from conveying her disgust in her mother's stupid rules and regulations. She'll put her hands on her hips and huff, "But MOM, I said I wanted..."
Pat and I have noticed this attitude developing over the past six months or so. It started over the summer. Pat says that with her attitude, we won't have to worry about the boys she dates, or her even dating at all.

We imagine a boy coming to our front door, Pat and I sitting him down, and instead of threats of Pat's non-existant hunting skills, we'll say, "Are you sure you want to put yourself through this?"

The volleyball girls asked this fall what sports we think Peyton will play. I wonder sometimes if it will ever be an issue. I can't imagine any coach in their right mind will want to put up with her "screw you" attitude.

This attitude has gotten worse over the past month. I had some of my co-workers and their kids over for soup and snacks one night. Caleb, an innocent and unsuspecting almost 2-year-old, was playing with a doll stroller--one of the two that Peyton has in her toy collection. Peyton tried to take the stroller that Caleb was playing with, had already been reminded that we don't take other people's toys, when Caleb took his hands off of the covetted stroller to grab a handful of chips. Immediately Peyton was all over Caleb's stroller.
"Peyton," I say, "Caleb is playing with that stroller. You have your own."
She drops her hands and glares at me. (Isn't she the cutest thing?)
So we all go back to talking and Caleb continues eating, and as I'm watching Peyton out of the corner of my eye, I see her place her hands on Caleb's stroller's handles, look at Caleb, tap him on the shoulder, and smuggly grip those naughty little fingers around the purple foam covers on the handles of his stroller!

This behavior continued all through Christmas. She is queen of the castle at Grandma's house. Denise took her to Nebraska with her two days earlier than the rest of us went. On the way, she asked Denise, among many other things:
1. Is Grandpa in our hearts? because I can't feel him in there.
2. Is Grandma going to get a new Grandpa?
3. Is Jesus a boy or a girl? (she was not at all happy to find out that he was a boy...oh, feminism, here we come!)

When she got to Grandma's, she was the only grandkid there for two whole days. Denise said that she's never heard the word "Okay" come out of our mother's mouth so much. Grandma even let Peyton stay up until 1:30 in the morning! Her antics included asking Aunt Bobbi if she could have a drink, a snack, a kick in the rear, whatever, and when Bobbi would get up to get it for her dear little neice, Peyton would steal her seat! Bobbi darling, now you too are Peyton's sucker.
This behavior is precisely why Santa brought her a Barbie camera instead of the Barbie computer that she'd been asking for. That, and Santa maybe couldn't find requested Barbie computer.