Nooooooo!

 Maren suddenly has a new way of saying no. Not a new word, just a new intonation. She sounds much more grown-up and defiant when she uses this tone. She has also been having a bit of a rough time, with bad naps, inconsolable crying and tantruming, etc.  So our household has been a little bit tense as we try to figure this out, and try to help her through whatever is difficult right now. We know for sure that teething is a contributor, as she is getting  her canine teeth.  We can't be sure what else it is, other than the fact that being a toddler is terribly hard sometimes.

 As difficult as it can be on all of us, there is a lot that is still going well. Her nighttime sleep is back on track and she is regularly sleeping from 7 PM to 7 AM without interruption. This is fabulous.  And for all the hard times she has, she also has many good moments. We are lucky to have a child with a generally positive temperament. She tends to always interpret pictures of people/animals/monsters in books as smiling or laughing even when they are definitely not. There is a picture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex  about to eat a  triceratops in one of her books, and because the T Rex has its mouth wide open she thinks it is laughing.  I don't know when this will change, but for now I love it :-)

And of course a short video from this week that I captured candidly: