Attitude? What Attitude??

I think our little girl has some attitude in her... I honestly don't know where she would get it from!  Okay, so that's probably a blatant lie.  Gracie is a carbon copy of her father in looks, eating habits, bodily functions, personality, and just about everything else.  But that attitude... oh that's all mama!  And I don't mind, really, that she inherited it from me.  I may be a strong-willed woman with a quick tongue, but I have rarely used my "gift" unless it was needed... I stand up for what I believe is right, I stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, and I will defend those who are most important to me without a second thought!  So really, attitude can be a good thing!  Just not in my one-year old... because oh my, we're going to have some words in 13 years! 

I know it's hard to believe, but this little girl is just FULL of attitude!

Gracie is very independent, but she listens very well.  We don't put things away because she's mobile, and we don't hide our breakables.  Gracie knows the word "no."  We taught her at a young age (aren't we mean??).  So when Gracie starts banging on my curio cabinet, I say "no, Gracie" and she stops.  It's amazing how it works!  What Gracie doesn't like is to be told to do things she doesn't want to do... "eat your supper," for example, or "Gracie, come here."  To those requests we get the most obnoxious sound to ever come out of a 13-month old.  I have nightmares about this sound, and have heard it so often, I am very close to letting it out of my own mouth when my boss asks me to do something I don't want to do.  Let's see if I can get it right... it goes like this... "errrrngh."  It's basically a grunt.  And she will look you straight in the eyes and "errrrngh" at you.  It is very quickly followed by "No, Gracie."  Which is then followed by a sometimes more intense "errrrrrrrrrngh."  When the tone in our voice drops and we get that very stern look on our face and say "Gracie..." she often looks at the floor, waits 4 seconds and then very quietly says "eerngh."  It is very hard not to laugh at her then, but we must be consistent, and so we follow up with "Gracie, we don't grunt."  As soon as you say the magic words "we don't" Gracie realizes we are serious, and she immediately puckers up for an apology kiss.  This dates back to our very first lesson, "Gracie, we don't hit, we kiss."  She seems very apologetic then, so she asks for her kiss, we say "thank you," and the day continues.  Usually for about another 2 minutes until we again ask her to "come here" or "eat your supper" and it starts all over again... "errrngh."  I seriously hope this is a phase that she soon outgrows... because if I have to hear "errngh" for the next 16 years I may chop both my ears off. 

In the meantime, until it stops, I will just brace myself when the "errngh"ing starts, try not to cry when I've heard it for the upteenth time today, and try my best not to use it myself when Danny asks "Sammy, are you making supper soon?"