So some minor discord on the home front. E. is 2-and-a-half going on three, which means she's a major whiner, screamer, demander. She's cute as hell but worse than the devil when she decides she wants to walk outside in the rain with no shoes on, or smear cream cheese and honey on the walls, or, like she did last night, somehow manage to extend herself out of her crib enough to grab a pair of thick outdoor over-pants off the top of her dresser and pull them on over her pajamas. She promptly fell into an overheated slumber, exhausted from what had been an hour plus yelling "mommy" over and over again and demanding everything from more water to markers, snacks and worms.

Now my position is pretty much to ignore these outbursts, but W. can't seem to let anything go. She's always rushing in to see what our precious angel needs. To me this just encourages the behavior and keeps her up longer. And believe me, based on how crabby she was when she popped up out of her crib bright and early at 6:30 a.m. she doesn't need to be kept up any longer.

So anyway, this morning it's my turn to get up with her. But she doesn't want me. She wants mommy. And she's yelling mommy, mommy, mommy and no no no. I reason with her, get some of her stuffed animals to reason with her but to no avail (though she does quiet down somewhat to observe the spectacle of her stuffed bear discussing the situation with her favourite plastic animal, Ape). Finally I get tired of the whole thing and say, look, I'm going to brush my teeth. You think about if you want to stay in your crib or come downstairs and play with me and when I get back you can tell me your decision. I leave to brush. This prompts wails of indignation and further cries of mommy. Then it gets quiet. Too quiet. I spit, rinse, and return. Who's arrived to rescue the day? None other than, you guessed it, mommy. Arggh! I'm pissed off. This just confirms for E. that whining and demanding and screaming her head off will get her what she wants. And it make me look like an asshole while we're at it.

So what's up with that? W. just can't stand to let E. alone. Later we talked about it and she admitted I was right (hey there's a first time for everything). But I have a feeling this isn't over...Any thoughts?