Crying is Contagious

Alexander can go from happy to sad in a matter of minutes.  He can be the happiest little boy and then, BAM, all of the sudden he is the most unhappy boy in the world.  Any little thing can set him off.  Tonight a lightbulb burned out in the bathroom while he was taking a bath.  Now, mind you, there are two other lightbulbs in the bathroom fixture, but because one lightbulb was gone, he could no longer see and that was the beginning of the tantrum.  Three year old tantrums are different from the two year old ones because of the sound of the screams.  At two, it was basically just inconsolable crying that lasted a couple of minutes.  At three, it is the loudest screams you can possibly make with the biggest tears.  It is all about the drama.  This happens at least four to five times a day, if not more.  Because of this, Julia is getting very used to hearing crying from her brother.  Now she thinks that if Alexander is crying, she needs to also.  Tonight, while I was dressing her after her bath and her brother was having his tantrum about the lightbulb, she was very happy.  Then as we heard more and more screams from the bathroom, she looked up at me smiled, then started giving me her pouty face, the one that she gives before she cries when she wants to get a reaction.  It was like she was saying, "Well, he is crying, so I need to cry too, right?"  She did that for a few minutes.  She gave the pouty face, whimpered, then smiled, and repeated the pattern.  I never knew that crying could be so contagious!