Up to Something

She's up to something all right...

Tempered

There are times when we don't get our way, that is just a fact of life.  Our little ones learn this fact at an early age, even though they don't understand it.  "Why not?  How come?  But I want  it!"  they say, or scream (with or without words).  Eliana is no different, and, at thirteen months, she is quite persistent, and determined, and willful, and confident, and persistent.  Oh, did I mention she's persistent?  Today she desperately wanted:  to type on the keypad, to get the camera, to stand up in multiple chairs around the house (which she can now climb into quite easily), to play the piano while Michaela was practicing, to write on Michaela's paper while she was doing her schoolwork, and NOT to take a bath (and boy, did she ever not want to do that tonight).  I try very hard to be consistent, especially with the standing up in a chair and not handling expensive "grown-up equipment."  She also had a bath, or a battle, whichever one you want to call it.  Good grief.  At any rate, the point is that unfortunately today she spent a lot of time in tears.  And please don't think I'm a terrible person, but I did get a picture: 

What a sweet, sad little face.  This was after a "No, you cannot type or have the camera" moment.  Those tears make me so sad, and, you know, as a mom I want to make them stop.  But I can't give in, or we'll be in BIG trouble, right?

Well, just so no one is too concerned with the girl's well-being (I am, after all, the kind of person who takes a picture of my daughter in the throes of self-pity and misery) here is what she looked like not five minutes later:

 

 She was eating cheese.  This calmed her soul at least for a minute.  She did spit the cheese out after she chewed it up.  I don't have a picture of that.

I love this girl, and I want her to be happy.  It is a struggle as a parent, at least for me, to stay sane enough to say, "no" at the right times, to pick those battles wisely, and to be consistent.  Sometimes it would be so much easier to let her stand in the chair, or sit on the school table.  But I do want to teach her to listen to what I say, and to obey.  These lessons start now, even though she's so small-she's smart as a whip.  And whips sting, don't they?  And even though it hurts me sometimes to stand strong (and take her out of the chair 72 times in a row, because remember, she's persistent) and make her sad, I hope that one day she realizes I want her to be safe and happy.  Strange how that works, isn't it?

Eating?

Is it just me or does anyone else think this series of pictures is funny? She's moving her fork back and forth and side to side, but never taking a bite. And watch her mouth. Maybe I have too much time on my hands.

A Sticky Situation

Eliana found a roll of tape on the floor of our schoolroom this morning and quickly figured out how to pull it out.  I thought it was funny and let her experiment with it for a minute.  She was pretty busy for a short time, but it didn't occupy her long enough for Michaela's whole math lesson!  She knows what I'm up to when I'm trying to divert her away from the table where Michaela does her work.  Here are some pictures of her investigation. It's funny, even though she isn't talking you can see what's going on in that little head. She's fun to watch.

Washable

Eliana discovered markers today.  Well, she discovered that they mark.  Before today she did not know that there was such a thing as a cap and that the cap came off in order to allow ink to flow.  And I tried taking the marker away once I realized that she realized that this was a new writing tool, and for better or worse I decided it was going to be a more pleasant day if I just allowed her to use the marker with some boundaries.  So, I set her up in her high chair with a piece of paper and she let her creative juices run wild.

Washable markers + washable babies=fun pictures - worries.