Who, Me?

Ellie is getting into Margaret's things.  Ellie is getting into my things.  Ellie is getting into Leo's things.  Ellie thinks that our things are thousands of times more interesting than her things, and doesn't see why she shouldn't be allowed to do anything that any of the rest of us can do.

In short, Ellie is becoming a menace.

A nice menace, but a menace just the same.

She is quick, and ruthless, and wily, but she still has to keep an eye on her sister when she is invading her sister's space and and stealing her things.  Consider this example:

Then she noticed me.

And gave me a "Hey, Mom.  Don't tell on me, okay?" look.

It worked.  But Margaret has a very finely tuned sense of when her prerogatives are being infringed upon, so although I didn't tell on her, her triumph over the notebook was short-lived.

Her fascination with pens and paper, though, is deep-seated, and so entertaining her can be rather easy.

She looks much more impressive before you notice that the pen is the wrong way around.  But she's got a really impressively business-like grip on the thing, so that's something.

Of course, it's not always writing.  Sometimes she has to get in some time talking to her friends (or business associates) on the phone.

See?  M-E-N-A-C-E.