Her Royal Highness

Is there a princess in the house? Harper isn't princess-like in that she is prissy and girlie, she's about equal parts tomboy and girlie, but she is definitely on a quest to be the ruler of our little castle.

Lately, she is using her newly acquired verbal skills to see how much power she actually has in this family situation. Unfortunately for her the answer is very little, but it doesn't keep her from trying.

Some examples:

Harper has started to say, "No way!" Not as in, "No way, that is so cool!"

I'll say, "Harper it's time to brush your teeth."

She'll reply, "No way Mommy!" For effect, she often crosses her arms when she says it.

She's also become much more verbally demanding. When she calls me from her crib in the morning and I walk in to her room she'll say, "Ah way uk (wake up) now!" Meaning, "Don't you dare give me a book and think I'll entertain myself in here for one minute more."

She also informs me that she wants to, "Eat befess! Eat unch! Eat didder!" and emphasizes these points by climbing into her chair.

When she wants to go somewhere, she stands by the door or runs through the house shouting, "Ah rebby (ready) Mommy! Ah rebby!"


She has also picked up the charming habit of saying, "Beep beep," to anyone or anything that gets in her way. I didn't have to look to far to figure out where that came from, as it's often what we say to Rebound. Oops.

Of course she uses her verbal power to charm as well as make attempts to control. She can often be found in her little rocker, with a doll or stuffed animal, singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." It sounds something like this (use your imagination):

Kinka, kinka bebe staas
Wewa wa wor wa woo ars

Then she starts over. It's pretty darn cute. If you are rocking her at night, she'll lay her head on your shoulder and whisper, "Kinka?" to you. It almost makes me want to go wake her up.