Maggie has gotten into "no thank you." When we were teaching her "please," if she asked for anything and used the word, she got it. If she didn't, she either had to start over again or just deal without it. In the beginning, even if she asked for something I'd usually say no to ("cookie please" right after two), she got it. Just so she'd understand that "please" is a much better and more effective way to ask for things than demanding. Now she uses "please" quite often. So we've been doing the same thing with "no thank you" lately. Instead of screaming, I tell her to say "no thank you" and then she gets the result she wants. I try to comb her hair; "NOOOOO;" "Maggie, say 'no thank you Mommy;' " "no thank you;" I stop combing her hair; happy child with tangled hair. She's gotten the picture pretty quickly. She says "no thank you" in this sweet little voice all the time. Which is so much nicer to hear than the toddler's "NOOOOO," even though the message is the same. But now we're starting to get to the point where we'll have to tell her some things aren't a choice. "Maggie, you sure are stinky. Let's clean up that dirty diaper;" "No thank you;" "ummmm."
And I did manage to get Maggie to sing Yankie Doodle for you. Sort of. She starts it really well. And I guess she does finish singing it too. But you see what we're contending with taking pictures and movies of this child. If I get one or two good pictures a week, I consider myself a photographer.
