J loves our firstborn with all his heart. It is not unusual for him to spend an entire Saturday playing with her, then stare forlornly at the baby monitor after he has put her to bed and sigh, “I miss my baby.”
That being said, he is much better at saying “no” than I will ever be. He is constantly reminding me that it is better to enforce good habits now than to have to break bad habits long after they have formed.
Not surprisingly, Claire does not like this aspect of her father. 😛
Take tonight, for example. After J put his foot down for what seemed like the millionth time today, and she threw her millionth tantrum as a response, I gathered her sobbing little body into my arms and took her away in order to ready her for bedtime.
And as we sat there, just mother and daughter for the first time in hours today, she launched into a speech…
“BABA blah blah blah gibberish babytalk blah blah! More gibberish BABA blah blah blah! BABA gibberish gibberish gibberish!“
This went on for a few more minutes, with the word “baba” (the Chinese word for “daddy”) inserted every few seconds. I couldn’t help but start cracking up as I responded with the occasional “Oh really?”s and “You don’t say!”s — because it really seemed like she was telling me about all the bad things her baba had done today to make her upset!
In other words…TATTLETALE!
When J appeared as we neared the end of her bedtime routine, she shot him daggers from her eyes and even refused to let him give her her nighttime bottle.
Stubborn, grudge-holding tattletale!
My parents have been declaring Claire a little genius from day one (and I always shook them off because…well, they’re her grandparents), but lately I have been hearing more and more comments from friends, family members, and even strangers who have limited interactions with her that she is one smart baby.
And the downside to having an astute child? You are bound to run into problems with them later on, as they start to talk back, sneak things by you, and even eventually outwit you!
We’re in for one heck of a ride.
I like books, gadgets, spicy food, and art. I dislike shopping, hot weather, and the laws of entropy. Although I am a self-proclaimed computer nerd, I still have a love for handbags and makeup... and I am always teetering on high heels. To learn more about me, visit the 
this is funny to me because i was having a conversation with my client. her kid is 6 yet she knows how to hack into her iTunes account and buy chronicles of narnia; she knows how to hack the parental blocks on her tv… this world is becoming harder for parents to train their kids haha because they’ll always find ways to jump over the hurdle.
Her little face in that picture is priceless! That’s an awesome story.
J took this picture of Claire last month as he was giving her a bath, and he says that it is one of his favorites because it perfectly captures her stubborn little attitude that challenges us every day!
Such a cute story! 🙂
It’s a funny story.
What kind of naughtiness does Claire get up that J must put his foot down? My daughter is only 6 months and not yet capable of being naughty, so I’d like to get an idea of what I’m in for!
It’s not THAT bad — just normal baby stuff, I would say. Things like putting stuff into her mouth she’s not supposed to, throwing items, putting her hands in her mouth when she’s eating (thereby creating an even bigger mess), etc. I personally have some trouble saying “no” to these things because I figure that this is what all babies do, but J insists that we need to correct her now because we do not want her to fall into bad habits. So whenever he stops her from doing these things, or when he tells her a stern “No!” after she has done these things, she will throw mini-tantrums because she knows she’s not getting her way.
I have to say that it seems to be working, because when J is around she will “test” him by shooting him a quizzical look before doing these things.
Oh I see; thanks for describing (I am relieved). Discipline seems like one of the hardest tasks of a parent.
Maybe J can read a child development book? I had my husband read one since he didn’t have any experience with babies/toddlers, and it was really helpful for him to know what to expect, and what our daughter should be able to do (or not do). Also, then J won’t have to waste his effort on training Claire not to do things that she will naturally outgrow anyway.
So cute she looks at him before doing stuff: “Can I, Daddy?”
On the contrary, I am finding that I’m actually the one who is underestimating her. 🙂 Babies really are smarter than we (or at least I) give them credit for, because Claire really seems to be picking up on what is wrong and right…even just from stern “No!”s.
Little G’s been outsmarting us since at least 8 months old. We would try to entice him to crawl over to something by putting a toy out of his reach. And he would look at us like we were crazy, and pull the blanket he was sitting on closer to him so that the toy would come closer. Yeah…at 2 we’re basically screwed!
That is EXACTLY what Claire used to do whenever I did that to entice her to crawl (I have since given up). Sigh…we ARE screwed, aren’t we?
I love this story. I even paused the tv and read it to AJ, he started laughing. We are the opposite in that aspect. I am the one that is strict when it comes to reinforcing good behavior while one even slightly sad look (from my niece or nephew, puppies.. anything! lol) makes AJ completely week in his fortitude. Good luck with Claire! Especially after Bebe Deux is born, is just as smart, and they start scheming together! 🙂
Or worse…start pitting the parents against each other! 😛
Hahaha! It sounds like Miss Claire has some traits of first borns – stubborn, tattletales, but smart as whips! At least, that is just gauging from the many first borns that I know. 🙂
lol. oh boy… she’s gonna be a hard one to handle when in about 15 years. You’ll have your work cut out for you. 😉
HEE! This is the funniest story!!!
HAHAHA omg… that is such a hilarious story! She’s such a girl huh? 🙂 That’s amazing though, that you can see that she’s thinking such things and has such strong emotions from so early on! Definitely a smart cookie! (And so true… UH OH for later!)
The problem of having the first child being a genius is that he/she teaches all the subsequent kids all their tricks. My first is a little computer hacker and I see both of my kids hunkered over my keyboard all the time now.