That Smile!

photo shoot courtesy of Auntie Kiki!

Natalie has always had a sweet smile...and lately, it's still very sweet, but there's also a heavy dose of mischief in a lot of her giggly grins. I think one of the biggest challenges in raising a toddler is keeping a straight face when she's being naughty. Some of the antics are pretty funny, but one poorly timed snicker on my part can quickly ruin any learning lesson opportunity.

She thinks if she covers her eyes that we can't see her either. So, I'll catch her doing something she shouldn't be doing, tell her "no", and usually, she'll stop. Then she'll promptly shut her eyes (or cover them with one hand if the dirty deed can still be accomplished single handed) and do it again. Such a boundary tester!

She's such a typical toddler (I can confidently say that because I spend a lot of time with other toddlers these days which is such a good thing because, otherwise, I would be very worried about Natalie's defiant days!). "Come here, Natalie" often means she runs as fast as she can in the other direction. "Uh uh uh", spoken while Corey or I shake our heads and frown, trying to look stern, is usually mimicked with a toddler version of "uh uh uh", accompanied by tiny raised eyebrows and her signature smirk as she keeps right on doing whatever it is she's not supposed to be doing. And she can turn from giddy to ghastly and back to giddy in the blink of an eye!

But, she has started saying, "sowwy, Mommy" when I ask for an apology. And the other night, when I asked her to pick up the peas on the floor that she had thrown off her dinner plate, she nodded and said, "otay", and proceeded to carry each individual pea to the trash can one at a time...and knew enough to hand me the fork (she'd also thrown on the floor along with the peas) because she was pretty sure that didn't belong in the trash. Pretty smart (and sweet) little stinker!