Oh NO!

Don't let this sweet lil face fool you. Cause this girl is fierce! In the past few weeks she has gone from very agreeable, answering every request with a softly-spoken, eager, "Kay!" to showing a bit of her inner rebel. Last night it culminated at bedtime when instead of her usual run to the stairs at the announcement of 'night-night time' she hugged her arms tightly across her chest shook her head back and forth with utter commitment and declared with unmistakable defiance, "No!" What?! Not that I should have been surprised, she has after all been shaking her head no for some time now, but it has never been accompanied by the verbal declaration. She'd never even said the word, "no" before tonight. It simply wasn't a part of her vocabulary yet. But, I guess I should consider myself lucky as "no" wasn't her first word, nor her second, or even anywhere close to being in her top 20. I think more than the word, is what inevitably comes with it, the acts of disobedience, stubborness, etc. Another, less inocuous, new vocabulary word for her is "car." She says it with a heavy New England accent, like she was a Jersey girl or something. That, unlike "no" is quite cute. The other day as we were walking through the YMCA parking lot after swim lessons she pointed to every vehicle we passed and pronounced, "Car. Car. Car. Car. Car." The Girl and I were cracking up.