Flexing Her Lil' Autonomy Muscles

Our lil' sweet potato girlie is really, really, really trying hard to assert herself these days... what's hers, what's not, what she wants, what she doesn't want, etc.

Last night she was having a hard time accepting it was time to eat dinner. She only wanted to be outside, to ride her pony, to go on a wagon ride, to go swimming, to blow bubbles, to get back in her stroller, to change her shirt, to wear socks, to take the socks off, to change her shoes, and to change her shoes again, etc. But eat dinner? Noooooo!

So I someone got her in her highchair despite her wishes, and I quickly offered her some white cheddar puffs to munch while I'd prepare her real dinner, which she later refused, by the way. Her daddy had come home by that point, and he offered her a slice of cheddar cheese to eat as well, which she happily took, waving it around in the air for a little while, threatening off and on to toss it down to the floor. My honey-man told her it was good and yummy cheese and to please eat it. She instead began slapping the cheese on her highchair tray, so, seeing she clearly wasn't interested in the cheese as food, he casually took it from her and gave it a nibble, immediately handing her the bitten slice back, again telling her the cheese is soooo good.

You would have thought he'd, I dunno, done something horribly, horribly wrong, like. She froze, cheese in hand, looking up at him. Her bottom lip shot out, her chin began to tremble and her eyes welled up with big, fat, enormous tears... In an alarmed, yet almost pleaded tone, about to burst into cascading tears, she croaked: "My cheese, mine...." She was just absolutely shocked and mortified that he had taken HER cheese and HE'D EATEN IT!?! I jumped in and told her it's such lovely, yummy, delicious cheese, don't you want to share it with daddy, right? And I asked her if she would please share a nibble of her cheese with mommie too. At first, she clutched her cheese slice to her chest, full on crying now. I told her I was sorry, and her daddy told her he was sorry he hadn't asked her first. After our apologies, she sniffed, smiled and enthusiastically offered me a bite of her slice. I then told her it was okay, she could keep her cheese all to herself, that "it's your cheese, yes," at which point, she full on stopped crying, broke into a smile and tore off a piece, waving it up at me, yelling "Eat, eat! Eat my cheese!", which I couldn't refuse. I leaned toward her and took a little bite with my own mouth and she was utterly delighted, breaking off another piece and another, wanting me to eat it all! And she offered her daddy some as well.

She's way too cute.