No.No.No.No

That ladies and gentlemen is Isa's new favourite word. 'NO'. In fact it is probably one of two words that she can clearly pronounce, the other one is 'bear'.

The really funny thing is that she knows very well how to use it. If I ask her to do something or eat something that she does not like, she says 'no'. Firmly and with conviction. If she thinks that you may not head her she repeats it and says it again and again each time with a little more desperation and fear that she will not be understood.

There are times when being the caring mother that I am, I play a little bit with her head. I will illustrate:

BWM: 'Isa, would you like to have a bath?'

Isa: 'no'

BWM: 'Would you like to go to bed?'

Isa: 'no'

BWM: 'Are you sure you don't want to go and have a bath and play with your bath toys?'

Isa: 'nooooooooo, nooooooo, nooooooo'

BWM: 'would you like some cheese?'

Isa: 'no,no,no...????'

By this point she is processing the fact that I just offered her some cheese(her favourite) and is backtracking. Now her new favourite word is 'mas' which means more.

BSM: 'Isa would you like some cheese?'

Isa: 'mas,mas,mas eese'

I do hope that I don't cause too much damage, but at least it gets her to understand even further how each word is used and what her preferences are.

Even if, in the end I will be the one to suffer from this greater understanding when she is saying 'no' to everything. At least there will be no doubt when she truly wants something.