September 4th, 2012 - 1st sentence and so much more...

Nora has mastered naughtiness. She'll get angry and throw her sippy cup on the floor. We calmly respond with, "Nora, pick that up, please." If that doesn't get a response then we follow it up with, "Nora? What do we do with our cup?" This normally elicits her naughty smile and the placement of her sippy cup on the nearest table (mind you she's just shy of 18 months).

Her new exchange these past two weeks? "Nora, please pick up your cup."
Response: "What's that about?" (With her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side back and forth with a smile.) Oh no? Oh, yes.

New words these last couple weeks:  Pepe (short for Peter the cat), down, no-no (in response to naughty behavior or cat behavior, take your pick), ow-cha...haahaahaa (hot things are funny because adults in pain are hilarious), shhhh-dowg (dogs are to remain silent), and ba-bah smah (babies are small and apparently beneath her or at least should remain quiet in her presence because, after all, don't they realize they're in the presence of a BIG girl?).

There is a distinct fascination with hats, shoes, spoons, and anything that is related to babies which is amusing. She rarely used a pacifier and thinks they are ridiculously funny. This would be cute except it is incredibly awkward in public when she steals them from infants and runs away with them. She's like an earth-friendly guerrilla warfare front of one against the orally-fixated infants of the greater Portland area. Let's just say she's about as good as her mom at making friends. I try to return them and make a joke but the sleep-deranged mother with the wailing infant is never amused. I don't blame her.

Nora has figured out how to open doors, unscrew caps, open purses/bags of every type, unleash dogs, and draw with anything that will leave a mark...It's tempting to put her in daycare just to see what havoc she could wreak in a week. I should find one of those new-age ones with live video links. I could make millions off the feed. Or, I could stay home with her until she's ready for school and truly prepare her for terrorizing others. Yay, family values!