ADDITUDE

This little diddy will make complete sense to you if you know Addison. It is just so her.

In her younger days Addison had an unreasonable dislike for clean, combed and tidy hair. She would fight like a banchee when the time came for hair care. Washing was a nightmare. Curling was a battle. Brushing was a struggle. Finally, I chose not to rumble any more. I cut her hair. Not just cut. It was a bowl cut. Not more fussing. We were both much happier. Keep in mind that these were the preschool years for Ads.

To paint the picture for the tale it must also be said that Addison was a bit of a tomboy. So much so that out of all our babies she was the one that we thought was the boy from the moment I knew I was preggers. Seriously. Moved all the time. Kicked, punched, jumped, rolled. You could see my abdomen moving through my clothes.

As she grew older, she loved plaid shorts, tee shirts, sneakers, flip flops and jeans. She would ask people if they thought she was a girl or a boy. Several were afraid to guess. Yep. That was our second born.

One day, as luck would have it, she decided to she wanted to wear a bow. Now when the girls were little I loved to doll them up and put bows in their hair so I was thrilled with Addi's request. Plaid shorts, tee shirt, sneakers and yes, the bow. Perfect. It was a happy day.

We then gathered our gear and head for the grocery store and a gentleman walks up to Addi and tells her she is a "handsome little boy." Addison and her big blue eyes look up at the man. She puts her hand on her hip, tilts her head, points directly at her hair and says "hello . . . bow." The man slinks away smiling at her spunk. The phrase at our house was coined that day. A-D-D-I-T-U-D-E.

It was a clue to our future with this little girl.