We thought we had escaped it. In what I understand to be a somewhat atypical progression, both Barnes & Frances learned to say yes long before they learned no. In fact, they were quite agreeable. They answered yes to practically any question you asked. But the tables have turned. The noes have officially raided our home.
At first it was kind of amazing. You ask them a question...you see them actually think about the answer...you listen as they communicate what's going on in their head. Smart, right? Well, as all parents can attest, what started out as amazing and adorable has quickly turned slightly annoying (are you allowed to say that 22 month olds are annoying?). Barnes still says yes a lot of the time. He mostly only says no when he really means it, when he really doesn't want to do something. But Frannie is loving the no. I think it makes her feel powerful. She says no to most everything. Does she want to walk the dogs/ eat lunch/ come inside/ put on her clothes? No, no, no, no. And her no has some sass behind it. With all the feistiness, though, I'll take the increased communication any day. I love learning more about what is happening inside those two precious brains.
Avery I think has gotten through most of the saying no just to say it phase. I agree, if she says no just to be a sassy thing, then it is annoying, but if she says it because she really doesn't want to, I don't find it annoying.
ReplyDeleteI read something really interesting about toddlers saying no though, that you should try to respect their no's. If they truly don't want to do something, don't make them do it, or wait 5 minutes and ask again. I have found since I starting respecting Avery's no's, she says it less!
Good luck, I can't imagine getting hit with double the no's!!!!