Lydia does say the most profound things sometimes. Tage has been driving her crazy for quite a while, wanting to get in her stuff all the time and to do the same things she’s doing. I was trying to help her feel better, saying, “he just wants to be like you because he thinks you’re so cool.” (Yes, the same thing that I hated to hear my mom tell me about my own younger brothers — I just wanted them to leave me alone, for crying out loud!)

Anyway, she looked at me for a moment then said thoughtfully, “Why can’t he be like himself?”

I didn’t have an answer for her, but I hope that as he grows older he learns to do just that — be like himself. Lydia already knows.