Troublemaker

This picture pretty much sums up the past month with Little Missy. She's on a mission to find out exactly where each of Mommy and Daddy's "lines" are, and make sure she keeps her little chubby finger right on them. In this case, she was told not to bang on the glass door of the bookcase- an offense which earned her a time-out two days ago. So, she presses her little finger on the glass, then turns to see what response this will earn from Daddy.

Another example...Her playroom is right next to the laundry room downstairs. Ever since we moved into this house, we have told her the laundry room (a.k.a. the cats' restroom) is off-limits. So, in the past month, she has put this rule to the test no less than a hundred times by very carefully placing one little toe across the threshold into the laundry room. One time, she even concocted a very elaborate plan to sneak her way in, which involved giving me a pillow, telling me "night-night", and giving me a kiss. Once I put my head down, she took off like a tiny bolt of lightning headed straight for...you guessed it...the laundry room. When I put my head up, she ran over and got a dirty sock and brought it back into the playroom and gave it to me ("Here, Mommy") as if that had been her purpose for going in there all along. At least the girl can think on her toes.

I guess this is all normal toddler stuff. I'm sure she'll get all these rules straight in her head before long. Now, if I could just figure out how to discipline her without chuckling at her little tricks and silly faces.