attitude.

i remember after i got pregnant my mom smiling and saying to me, "i hope you have a girl, so you get all that attitude you gave me." oh, we had a good laugh!

i'm not laughing anymore.

lord have mercy this baby girl is no longer a baby i suppose. granted, she will ALWAYS be my baby, and i still affectionately call her 'baby'. but she is becoming more and more toddler like. i've said it a million times before, we got blessed with a very laid back/happy/easy baby. and i wasn't lyin'!

the last couple days we've experienced our first, of what i'm sure will be many- meltdowns.

well, not really melt downs. i've seen some good melt downs and thats not really what we're dealing with. she's more fussy, testing us. when we tell her no, or "no ma'am", take something away, or pick her up to move her from whatever shes doing...we get the picture above. it usually only lasts a couple minutes and then shes up and running, smiling, and forgotten all about it.

we've been using redirection thus far. "you can't have this... but hey look at THIS!"

i feel like at 14 months old, there isn't a ton you CAN do. i don't want her to be spoiled, or melt down central. but theres just not a ton of options at this point. i don't think she'd understand a time out. spanking isn't an option (at least till shes older, don't judge), and words only get so far. so we've been relying on redirection.

i've gotten her to where she understands "no ma'am" because i use it consistently. she KNOWS when i say that to stop what shes doing. she normally either listens, and moves on. or she cuts her eyes at me with this sneaky little smile and keeps slowly reaching for/climbing on/touching/doing whatever i'm telling her not to. (sometimes, it IS really cute....and it makes me laugh...but i do my best not to show her that)

i've been reading a ton of things online (gotta love Dr.Google) and thus far it looks like redirection is the top pick for this age. granted, people have all kinds of different advice- stick her in the crib for "time out" and walk away....slap her hands, swat her butt, tone of voice, etc.

i think, for now at least- we'll stick with redirection.

regardless, i adore this child- and she truly is 'easy' and happy, ALL THE DANG TIME. well...as long as she naps ;)

i mean, just look at this face!

(this is when she was itty bitty, just days old!)

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."