Bryn is rapidly approaching two, as evidenced by her sharp increase of daily fits over the past month or so. It is parabolic. Today was especially entertaining. For several months she has been in the phase where "Brynnie do it" has been the mantra, but now when Brynnie not allowed to do it we lose.our.minds. Bryn must climb out of her carseat by herself - if I get her down, she attempts to get back up in it and do it again, after pointing at me with her tiny finger and looking me in the eye and saying very sternly "No ma'am, BRYNNIE do it." (where did she ever learn that?) If I put her pants on, she rips them off and sits there and struggles for 5 minutes trying to get her legs in the holes properly. She will eventually let me do it, but it has to be HER idea for me to do it. Today there were two events that went beyond the fairly high bar she had set before in her quest for independence. First, she was in her little seat eating some hummus and pretzels (one of the 5 or so foods she will eat). She got it on her fingers and said "Wanna wash hands." I knew she wanted to go in and wash them herself in the guest bathroom b/c that is her new fave thing, but Momma don't allow food to go outside the kitchen, even if it is just washing down the sink (type A? nah). So she was waving them around, increasingly frantic as she watched me wet a paper towel and head in her direction. "NO BRYNNIE WASH HANDS!!!!" I calmly said "No, Mommy do it" as I wiped down her hands and then closed up the hummus container. She then LUNGED across the table and grabbed it (screaming all the while), and ripped the top off and stuck her little chubby fingers back in the hummus again, yelling "BRYN WASH HANDS!! NO MOMMY WIPE!!!" I could do nothing but laugh as I scooped her up and carried her to the kitchen sink to rinse her fingers off. She then spent the next 5 minutes writhing around on the floor crying as though I had thrown her down and kicked her.
The second happened not 10 minutes later, let me set the scene. She was sitting in my chair at the kitchen table, actually sitting versus her usual standing. She wanted some chips that we had been eating, but she wanted to hold the container. I took out a stack and put them on her plate. As I'm walking away from the table she stands up and starts screaming, leaning over the back of the chair reaching for me yelling "NO BRYNNIE HOLD IT!!!" Again, increasingly frantic as she realizes this is not going her way. The death blow is delivered as I shut the pantry door on the container, at which point she turns back toward the table, bends over at the waist and screams in a freaking animalistic manner, with her face no more than one inch from the chips. She just screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" long and loud and C-R-A-Z-Y. Then she stops on a dime, stares at the chips for a split second and then picks one up with her mouth (no hands, just her mouth since she was right there screaming at them). Claire was sitting right next to her at the table and just kept looking from me to Bryn and back again with a small, open mouthed smile on her face. She couldn't believe this was happening any more than I could. Priceless. It's pretty fun watching this the 3rd time around since I actually have 2 others with me all the time to appreciate the craziness. Check with me in about 6 months though, I'm not sure it will still be as amusing.
