Narcissism Runs In the Family

Is it inherited? Or innate? And do children grow out of this phase (the answer is no, Hubbs being living proof of it)! :P

Little L has recently become obsessed with looking at pictures and videos of herself.  Whenever she sees one of our iPhones, she will start yelling, "Pictures of [her name]!" over and over again until we relent.  Sometimes she will want to look at old pictures of when she was a baby, and other times she will want to look at recent pictures of herself playing with specific toys.  Her favourite selfie-videos are ones of her squealing with delight as she wrestles with her teddy bear or bunny rabbit.

Although she doesn't want to do this all day long, it is quickly becoming one of her "regular" activities in the day.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I mean, she isn't playing pointless games or watching TV, and the videos are one-scene-only (so no scene switching) and only run about a minute or so in length.  From an attention-development perspective, the videos are okay (unlike TV shows or cartoons that have really frequent scene switches).  When she looks at the pictures, it is usually with one of us so we are discussing the content with her, so there's plenty of social interaction happening.  She gets to practice her swiping skills and she controls how quickly the images transition, which also helps her feel very grown up and in control of her viewing.  And finally, she only ever stays focused on the pictures or videos for a few minutes at a time, rather than large significant blocks of time. Moderation is the key, so they say.

This doesn't mean that I am totally at peace with her preoccupation with looking at herself, however.  Little L gets super grumpy if we try to cut her off or end her video/picture time before she's good and ready, and I don't like that she gets so worked up about being taken off technology.  There's also a question about how valuable her photo-viewing really is, compared to reading or drawing or other creative or physical activities. 

I'm hoping this is just a phase and that it will pass as quickly as it came. Her daddy is in his mid-thirties now, and he's still stuck in this phase though, so maybe this is a lost cause.

(Miss Bee took this while they were on a walk.  My kid also likes looking at slugs, so it seems. Also a phase?)

Did your littles go through a phase like this? Will it pass, or am I destined to deal with Little L staring at her selfies for the next 16 years?!