Talkin' & Tantrums

Hattie's vocabulary has developed so much in the last two weeks. She is now saying "bye-bye" as she waves to herself. She calls every animal "cat." She loves when Mommy puts on her "sock" and "shoes" (yep, only one sock as she can't say "socks" quite yet). Also, last week I was at Home Depot with Sean's mom who needed a new dryer, and as I passed the stoves with Hattie in the shopping cart, she pointed to the stove and said, "Hot!" I always tell her, "Hot!" when she gets by our stove at home, and I was so proud of her for making that connection; though, I don't think she connects hot with danger quite yet as she loves to touch the stove.....hhmm..... Hattie will also pick up her dolls and say, "Babeee!"

I can tell that Hattie is absorbing EVERYTHING. All day long she points to things, and I tell her what they are, and she tries to copy what I say. It's amazing. However, our smart little cookie has also mastered whining and a form of throwing tantrums. She now arches her back when she doesn't like where we're taking her (i.e. her bed). If she points to something that she wants, and I hand her the wrong thing, she throws it and a fit at the same time. If I tell her, "No!" she immediately does whatever I was aiming for her not to do and looks me right in the eye as she does it. Woo-wee, we have quite a little pistol on our hands, I think. It's hard to know what the appropriate form of discipline is for her age. There is so much she doesn't understand yet, but I also don't want to form bad habits at a young age.

Luckily, for the most part, our Hattie Ruth is a happy girl and is more content than not, but I worry about these toddler years sneakin' up on us because I was quite the "toot" as a toddler as my parents and older sister love to remind me :0).

On that note, I leave you with this lovely picture: