Spectacular S: Breaking bad (habits).

P's main work computer is down so he came home at noon. We had him to ourselves today and possibly tomorrow. The guy was exhausted and quickly fell asleep, an impossible task with our very loud child. That and the fact that SS thinks it is hilarious to go up to her Baba and scream in his ear, while forcing his eyes open. I was able to coax SS outside with an offer of 80 degree heat, sunshine and a no pants requirement. The girl was on a roll, yapping away and doing her best to be heard as far away as possible. It worked, P came outside to join us.

SS is becoming more demanding of our attention daily. It is not like she has to share us with a sibling, but that is how she acts. Yesterday she cried at least a dozen times over nothing. It was all about "Mama hold me," or "Mama sit here." P right away noticed the increase in instant tears and extra clingy behavior when he came home. We are taking advantage of the next two days to force SS to rely on her Baba more. We are not expecting her to be on board, and while I will never withhold affection SS needs to learn to ask and not demand. Yeah, good luck with that. There's always a career as a military boot camp drill Sargent.

We had a good time enjoying the sun, watching SS's antics, and listening to her newly acquired language:
* Cracked us up trying to reach the leaves on the trees, because she did not find enough on the ground for her green fuel. The leaves were a good three feet above her, but it did not stop SS from jumping then stating in frustration "Mama I can't get it."
*Knowing darn well that she woke up her Baba she would rub it in by asking in a very sincere tone, "Baba, you tired?" Dude, not even I am that heartless or daring.
*SS is totally into Widget from W0w, Wow Wubzy. Widget loves to build things and is usually hammering away some invention. Good role model for a girl, right? There's a catch, something always goes wrong with said inventions. Come to think of it, it is a perfect fit for our klutzy SS. SS has designated a stone her "Widget hammer," and loves to pound away. I almost threw away her "hammer" a few times." We need to get her a toy hammer.
* Shortly after taking off her shoes and walking to the kitchen she forgot where she left them. "Mama, no find shoes. Oh no Mama." SS is the ultimate drama queen.
* After refusing to wear pants outside, she came downstairs wearing shorts and announced "Mama I found pants!"
* When P says goodbye she says "I come too."
* SS is letting us know when she is tired, hungry, scared, cold or angry. We get a lot of angry, what the heck is up with that?
* She is paranoid about us taking "MY Sn00py blanket." We have never come even close to coveting her blanket, but the conspiracy theory is there.

Then there are the things that have not changed:
* She is the happiest child we have ever come across when it comes to changing her diaper. Most infants reach a stage where it is like trying to lasso cattle, or tame a bronco. SS just lays down and actually giggles during diaper changes. She does the same when a bath or shower is imminent.
* She is still a cuddle bug, it began the day we met and it has not ebbed.
* SS has a tremendous amount of empathy and always notices little cuts and bruises on us. If we get hurt or she thinks we are hurt, she quickly kisses the area to make it better. Even if she is the one who hurled a toy or sippy cup at us. We have had a few funny moments of her bumping into our behinds, and before we know it she is literally kissing or rear ends. We are definitely using those moments as future blackmail material.