I wonder if it is inevitable that the littlest kid gets babied too long. Most of the time I don't notice, but sometimes I realize that there are things Natalie gets out of that I know C & A had to tough out at her age. I'm pretty sure by they time they were 3, I didn't ever carry them up or down stairs - granted they both had a baby sister by 3 and both were probably 10lbs heavier than she is now. By 3 they both seemed like big kids (only by comparison) and since she has no usurper, she still seems little. And most of the time, she is extremely content to be the baby. I had to discipline her recently and talked to her about learning self control so that she would be able to control herself when she was a "big woman". She burst into tears. However when she wants gum and is denied until she is "bigger", she says firmly, "I am big!".
I remember when we were about to adopt Cheryl and Don. Andy was concerned (at age 9) that he would no longer be the "baby". We assured him he would always be our baby. Don became our "little one". Yup, age 39 and he's still our baby.
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