She Said What?

Stella has really been making us laugh lately with the things that come out of her mouth. And I'm not talking about the food she chews for 10 minutes before deciding, "Don't like it!" and spits it out. (That actually isn't very funny.)

It was a gorgeous day. The birds were singing, and Stella was playing in her sandbox in the backyard when she paused and screamed: "Stop tweeting, Birds! Or you're going on the Naughty Towel!" The Naughty Towel is our version of the time-out corner. She laughed; she was just kidding. But darned if those birds didn't stop. (Buoyed by this, she may one day attempt to steal Christmas.)

It was bath-time, not exactly my favorite time of day anyway. And it's become even more loathed as Stella screams and hollers worried she's going to get water and soap in her eyes. Never mind she's received a hair rinsing every day of her 1000-plus-day life. All of a sudden these days she can't deal with it, and it's wailing and gnashing of teeth every night at 6:30. So after about 10 minutes of tears and sobbing I say: "Fine, we won't wash your hair again. Ever. It will get dirty and greasy and smelly and stinky and sticky and yucky."

Stella actually listens to me as I tell her this. Then her scowl reappears: "THAT DOESN'T SOUND GOOD!" And continues to sob.

Finally, the other day Marian asked Stella, "You want to go downstairs with me and help me with the laundry?"

Stella responds: "No, you can do it, Mommy." Even more encouraging, she adds: "I know you can do it, Mommy! You can do it all by yourself!"

And it's true. Marian really CAN do it all by herself.

Using cuteness to get out of chores. That's our daughter!