diff --git a/Ooui/EventTarget.cs b/Ooui/EventTarget.cs
index f218d69..2b4cfbc 100644
--- a/Ooui/EventTarget.cs
+++ b/Ooui/EventTarget.cs
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@ namespace Ooui
 
         public event Action<Message> MessageSent;
 
-        public IEnumerable<Message> StateMessages {
+        public IReadOnlyList<Message> StateMessages {
             get {
                 lock (stateMessages) {
-                    return new List<Message> (stateMessages);
+                    return new List<Message> (stateMessages).AsReadOnly ();
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ namespace Ooui
             });
         }
 
+        public override string ToString() => $"<{TagName} id=\"{Id}\" />";
+
         public virtual EventTarget GetElementById (string id)
         {
             if (id == Id) return this;
@@ -134,37 +136,30 @@ namespace Ooui
             TriggerEventFromMessage (message);
         }
 
-        protected void SaveStateMessage (Message message)
+        protected void AddStateMessage (Message message)
         {
             lock (stateMessages) stateMessages.Add (message);
         }
 
-        void LockedReplaceStateMessage (Message old, Message message)
+        protected void UpdateStateMessages (Action<List<Message>> updater)
         {
-            if (old != null) {
-                stateMessages.Remove (old);
-            }
-            stateMessages.Add (message);
+            lock (stateMessages) updater (stateMessages);
         }
 
         protected virtual void SaveStateMessageIfNeeded (Message message)
         {
             switch (message.MessageType) {
                 case MessageType.Create:
-                    SaveStateMessage (message);
+                    AddStateMessage (message);
                     break;
                 case MessageType.Set:
-                    {
-                        lock (stateMessages) {
-                            var old = stateMessages.FirstOrDefault (
-                                x => x.MessageType == MessageType.Set &&
-                                    x.Key == message.Key);
-                            LockedReplaceStateMessage (old, message);
-                        }
-                    }
+                    UpdateStateMessages (state => {
+                        state.RemoveAll (x => x.MessageType == MessageType.Set && x.Key == message.Key);
+                        state.Add (message);
+                    });
                     break;
                 case MessageType.Listen:
-                    SaveStateMessage (message);
+                    AddStateMessage (message);
                     break;
             }
         }
diff --git a/Ooui/Node.cs b/Ooui/Node.cs
index cf19983..cff16eb 100644
--- a/Ooui/Node.cs
+++ b/Ooui/Node.cs
@@ -103,10 +103,30 @@ namespace Ooui
         protected override void SaveStateMessageIfNeeded (Message message)
         {
             switch (message.MessageType) {
-                case MessageType.Call when 
-                    message.Key == "insertBefore" ||
-                    message.Key == "removeChild":
-                    SaveStateMessage (message);
+                case MessageType.Call when message.Key == "insertBefore":
+                    AddStateMessage (message);
+                    break;
+                case MessageType.Call when message.Key == "removeChild" && message.Value is Array ma && ma.Length == 1:
+                    UpdateStateMessages (state => {
+                        var mchild = ma.GetValue (0);
+                        Node nextChild = null;                        
+                        for (var i = 0; i < state.Count; ) {
+                            var x = state[i];
+                            if (x.Key == "insertBefore" && x.Value is Array xa && xa.Length == 2 && ReferenceEquals (xa.GetValue (0), mchild)) {
+                                // Remove any inserts for this node
+                                nextChild = xa.GetValue (1) as Node;
+                                state.RemoveAt (i);
+                            }
+                            else if (x.Key == "insertBefore" && x.Value is Array ya && ya.Length == 2 && ReferenceEquals (ya.GetValue (1), mchild)) {
+                                // Replace inserts that reference this node
+                                state[i] = Message.Call (Id, "insertBefore", ya.GetValue (0), nextChild);
+                                i++;
+                            }
+                            else {
+                                i++;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    });
                     break;
                 default:
                     base.SaveStateMessageIfNeeded (message);
diff --git a/Tests/EventTargetTests.cs b/Tests/EventTargetTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f19419
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/EventTargetTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+using System;
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+
+using Ooui;
+
+namespace Tests
+{
+    [TestClass]
+    public class EventTargetTests
+    {
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void CreationState ()
+        {
+            var b = new Button ();
+            Assert.AreEqual (1, b.StateMessages.Count);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/NodeTests.cs b/Tests/NodeTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32e0da0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/NodeTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+using System;
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+
+using Ooui;
+
+namespace Tests
+{
+    [TestClass]
+    public class NodeTests
+    {
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void TextState ()
+        {
+            var b = new Button ();
+            Assert.AreEqual (1, b.StateMessages.Count);
+            b.Text = "Hello";
+            Assert.AreEqual (2, b.StateMessages.Count);
+            b.Text = "Bye";
+            Assert.AreEqual (2, b.StateMessages.Count);
+        }
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void InsertBeforeOfRemovedNodeStillWorks ()
+        {
+            var p = new Div ();
+            var c0 = new Span ();
+            var c1 = new Span ();
+            var c2 = new Span ();
+            p.InsertBefore (c2, null);
+            p.InsertBefore (c1, c2);
+            p.InsertBefore (c0, c1);
+            p.RemoveChild (c1);
+            var ms = p.StateMessages;
+            Assert.AreEqual (3, ms.Count);
+            var c0s = (Array)ms[2].Value;
+            Assert.AreEqual (2, c0s.Length);
+            Assert.AreEqual (c0, c0s.GetValue (0));
+            Assert.AreEqual (c2, c0s.GetValue (1));
+        }
+    }
+}