They have finally arrived...and so has she.

After months of anticipation and false alarms, Emily's bottom molars have finally poked through. Along with them has come a really runny nose and a strong dose of crankiness, perhaps magnified by the fact she only took a 45 minute nap this afternoon.

In addition to the joys of teething, Emily has experienced her "me" awakening. I have just finished John Rosemond's newest book Parenting by The Book (a highly recommended read for any parent, but especially newer ones). Our small group from church is starting a study on it. In the book Rosemond talks about sinful human nature and the fact that somewhere between the age of 12-24 months a child suddenly realizes, "I am ME" and his/her true sinful nature emerges to reveal the core beliefs of entitlement, pragmatism and narcissism displayed through tantrums, defiance and even violence. Emily's "awakening" occurred two Sundays ago. Since then we have witnessed some pretty spectacular tantrums--the best of which we literally left her writhing around on her bedroom floor for a good 5-10 minutes before she collected herself and emerged ready to read some books before bedtime. See picture at right for another one. ;o) Fortunately, tantrums don't work on Austin & me. I think Emily is quickly figuring that out as the number and duration have already dramatically decreased.

Another example of boundary-testing: She pulled her first "dessert" trick tonight. She was already tired and cranky by supper time. After only 2 small bites of chicken & broccoli stir-fry, she promptly pushed her plate away (as I saved it from going over the edge of the high-chair tray) and demanded a "cookie". She has been enjoying frosted cut-out cookies for the last week a half a cookie at a time. Normally she is a very good eater, so we usually share dessert. Tonight, however, she thought she could have a cookie first (and only). Unfortunately for her, that didn't fly and she ended up eating only one or two more bites of broccoli before her meal was done--sans cookie. She then proceeded to throw a long, drawn-out tantrum in protest before her bath, but to no avail. Are we heartless or what?!? ;o)

I share all this so those of you without kids have something to look forward to and those of you who do can smile, nod and silently be thankful that you're not the only one! :o)