Emma: the Personality

We knew our girl would be a stubborn one. I mean, we know her parents.

Lately, Emma's been learning several key things: the word NO and blowing raspberries.

No has entered Emma's life along with the knowledge of where mom's computer cord lies, mostly due to the mysterious lure of said cord. 

Have we discussed how Emma likes to chew on things?

One day a few weeks ago, I was in the living room, dusting, and Emma was playing on near her quilt, rolling around and exploring. I had my eye on her, because she'd been showing an interest in the computer cord ever since she had rolled into it a few days previously.

A note: of course we are and are going to continue babyproofing our home. We want to make our home as safe an environment as possible for Emma and whatever other children are here. Dangerous items will naturally be stored away, where they are not potential hazards. However, we're not going to be those people with padded walls and nothing but baby paraphernalia. We're not going to only keep books on shelves where Emma can't reach. We'd have to buy like six more bookcases in that case. Instead, we're going to enforce limits early on. There are things Emma will see that she will not be allowed to touch. Will this be work? of course. Will this lead to tears, and possible tantrums? Read on, oh, read on. But our home isn't just about our baby girl. It's about our family. Ahem.

So Emma worked her way over to the computer cord, and happily set to work chewing.

"Emma."

She looked up at me.

"No."

She looked back at the computer cord, and kept chewing.

"Emma."

She looked up.

"No."

Back to the cord.

"Emma."

She ignored me.

I crossed the room, picked her up, gently smacked her pudgy hand, and said, "No. That's not yours." Then I placed her back on her quilt, and said, "These are your toys." 

She burst into angry tears.

You could almost see her little brain working -- what was this no and why did it take away what she wanted, and what had just happened?

She avoided the computer cord for a few weeks. 

Yesterday, though, I was busy doing something in the other room while Emma played on her quilt in the living room. I knew I would be a few minutes, so I picked up the blocks and the books and anything with an edge, so I knew she couldn't hurt herself on anything. Short of banging her head into the floor. Which might still happen, given her new interest in licking the floor. 

Anyway.

I heard Emma rolling across the floor, banging a toy on the wood floor. Then there was silence. For more than just a minute. All moms and child caregivers know the danger of silence. 

I glanced in the living room to check on Emma.

This is where she plays:

This is where she was:

Way over there in the corner. Near Eric's computer cord. Ahem.

She still doesn't crawl yet, but remember how she rolls? She rolled across the room, to where she saw Eric's computer cord, and set to work.

I walked over to her.

"Emma."

She grinned up at me, as if to say, "There's no no attached to this cord!"

Yet.

"Emma, no. No cords for you."

I carried her back to her quilt, handed her a toy, and went off to finish what I was doing. A minute later, I came back into the living room. 

Emma tossed my computer cord away from her mouth and picked up a stuffed hedgehog and started chewing on it. Then she turned it over and over in her hands, studying it.

As if she hadn't just been playing with my computer cord.

Calculating little twerp.

***

In other news, raspberries.

I picked Emma up this morning, pulled her onto my chest, and blew raspberries on her face.

She reciprocated.