This is a test of the Emergency Response System. Repeat. This is only a test.

That's what Saturday felt like. A test. And Playette was the proctor.

BD was up and out early that morning. He had things to do, which was fine. I could handle what we had planned. First, a stop by the Ped's office to check on the rash on Playette's face. Apparently, Scarlet Fever is the next new "thing" around here and - I don't know about you, but - ever since Mary had Scarlet Fever in/on Little House on the Prairie, it's sounded very ominous to me. I know it's just strep throat with a rash, but still. Mary Ingalls had that.

I was also thinking ring worm (ew, I always hate the way that sounds) or some other flesh eating bacteria. Not that I would ever overreact.

Never that.

Since I overslept, it was a whirlwind to get to the doctor's office by 9am. When we got there, Playette displayed her typical-when-she's-with-me white coat freak-out anxiety and refused to cooperate with standing on the scale as well as just about everything else requested of her.

Turns out the rash was nothing to worry about. (Really? I'll keep watching.)

But Playette only wanted to crawl from then on out. I figured she was just continuing her protest of being in the Ped's office.

Next, we went to the drug store. More crawling.

Then, a department store. Surely, she'd want to play with the other little girl in the aisle, right?

Nope. She continued to cross her ankles beneath her and lift her legs. No standing.

I joked with friend on my way home that she was giving me a lot of grief, but she's surely be fine as soon as she saw BD.

But that didn't happen either.

And then I really started to worry.

I thought back to when I went to get her out of bed. Usually, she's standing in the crib, waiting to be lifted out.

Not that day.

We tried her on the steps. She won't be able to resist climbing, right?

Nothing.

At times, it looked like she was favoring one leg over the other. Was she in pain? I massaged her legs and feet, applied compression. Was it her joints, a bone, her hips, something worse? Should we head to the ER immediately?

In five months, there had not been one day that this little girl had not walked. Why now?

By this time, even BD was on alert. He called the Ped who advised Tylenol and time.

Ugh. Not enough for me.

I called FNPT. She was working, so while we waited, we took a family nap.

Raise your hand if you've never used a nap to avoid a problem.

Surely, she'd be fine when she woke up, forgetting that she was playing a prank on us.

But, no. Still with the no standing. Still with the no walking.

She crawled though.

We put push toys in front of her. Brief success! She took a few steps and then she was down.

It was sad to see her want to do what she normally would do, but just being held back by something that she couldn't express to us.

I cancelled our Sunday plans, sure that we'd end up in the hospital by the end of the night.

FNPT came by as soon as she was done at work.

And then Playette put on a show unlike any other.

She danced. She squatted. She ran around the kitchen island. She walked. She tried to climb up the steps. She even busted out a tune on the kazoo while she danced some more.

I swear.

This child.

Is trying to kill me.

I try not to freak out. Really, I do. I prefer to be a more laid-back mom. But this kid knows how to push my buttons.

I imagine her inner monologue to be something like this:

"Hmm. Unfazed by tears, I see. What? I fall down and she doesn't rush over as if I've broken into a million pieces? I'll show her. One day, when she least suspects it, I'll stop walking. That'll freak her out good. I know how to handle this one. (insert menacing laugh here)"

Don't let the cuteness fool you.