Her name is Autumn Dawn Manley, but she has lots of other nicknames. Stinker-butt. Autumn-potimus. Princess Crazy Hair. Baby Girl. Sweet Cheeks. Little One. Sweetheart. Princess (I swore I'd never call my daughter that, but yet it comes out of my mouth, a
lot). You get the picture, I'm sure. She is adored by her brothers and, sometimes that is the only thing that saves her little chubby butt cheeks when she makes them mad. Sometimes I wonder if I've been replaced by her, because Tony is enamored with her. It took him, probably, til she was a year old before he could bring himself to raising his voice to her, let alone put her in time out or spank her. She is his baby. She is also, almost two....
...and in a hurry to grow up.
I don't blame her, she wants to be just like her big brothers. I'm (still) potty training Anthony and she wants in on the toilet sitting action too. She frequently insists on picking out the clothes she wants to wear, and sometimes even tries on 3 different pairs of shoes before she decides which ones will be allowed on her feet. Oh yes, she's very opinionated too. A good dose of stubbornness is tossed in as well, (how could it not when she is the daughter of Tony and Liz?). She wants to buckle her own car seat, which is currently not in her dexterity range yet, so I let her try and then she screams when I do it instead (because she has been trying for 3 min and still hasn't got it). She no longer will eat if someone else is feeding her. She absolutely
must be the one doing the feeding. This is frustrating to me, mostly because she gets frustrated and then won't eat anymore. Cleaning up the mess isn't fun either. Ugh.
She doesn't like messes either. If she thinks there is a mess, I have to stop what I'm doing and give her the means to clean up said mess, or she will empty the diaper wipes container trying to do it herself, and then stuff them all back in, used or unused. She will come to me with a small bit of mud on her finger saying, "mess...mess" which is my cue to clean it off for her. She doesn't like being dirty either, although it frequent;y takes her a while to notice if she's dirty from playing outside. She will also insist on taking a bath if she thinks mess is sufficient enough that wipes won't cut it. Well, she also insists on a bath if someone else is getting one, or taking a shower. Many times I've showered with her crying "bath.....bath....baaaaaath" outside the bathroom door. She gets upset when I don't let her help load or unload the dishwasher, or get out the packet of soap and put it in the little soap door. Same goes for the washer and dryer. She also won't let me vacuum without her assistance. She squeals at me, like, "How dare you clean up a mess without me?!" At least she's not afraid of the vacuum anymore.
She also thinks she can take on her brothers. She will pull Alex down to wrestle him. She will take things from Anthony. She bites Anthony frequently too, only him for some reason (I think it's because she is almost as tall as him and he should kowtow to her). She has even asserted some dominance over the full grown golden retriever, Cooper. He absolutely tolerates her smacking him on the head while she shouts "Don't" to him for licking her face. I think he only tolerates it because then she hugs and kisses his head, probably to kiss him better for hitting him.
She will lower her head, furrow her brows and point her finger at me and tell me to "Stop" (although it comes out more like "top") or "Don't" when I get on to her. She gets to go to time out frequently for being sassy or back-talking when she does that. Where does she get this from?! Yes I know, modeled behavior I'm sure, but it's definitely her own brand of attitude.Way too much 'tude for two!
She is also such a sweetheart that she gets away with all of the stinker-butt-ness. She started giving hugs really early. Like, before she could walk. Not just wrap-her-arms-around-you-and-call-it-good-hugs, but wrap them around your neck with conviction and squeeeeeze hugs. Best little girl hugs E-V-E-R! She loves to snuggle with me first thing in the morning for a while, before she decides to wallow all over me. She loves to help, likes throwing things in the trash for me, and giving me my phone (well unless she wants to play with it at the moment). She goes to bed without a fuss (almost every time). She is infatuated with all things baby. This is a good thing, since one will be joining our family in the next month. She will rock stuffed animals or her baby doll and whisper sh-sh-shhhh to it. She loves music and dancing to it.
Even though I'm a grown up and she's just a little toddler, I know that it isn't her
making me let her do anything, that it is I, who lets it slide. Really, most of the behavior I let occur, is because I don't mind. I don't mind her cleaning up messes, being helpful, trying to potty train, feed or dress herself. I just wish she wouldn't scream and squeal so much about it, especially the times when it's not convenient so I don't let her.
really hope don't rear their ugly head when princess #2 is born), I just can't help but adore her. I mean, what mother couldn't love the almost two-year old who drags a blanket and pillow to the coffee table, makes her self a little bed, and falls asleep while you type a blog post about her, without a fuss or a whimper?! I think I'll keep her.
