A big day!

A friend of mine was in town today to give a presentation at work. When he asked how the kids were, I mentioned how one of Margaret's first words was "No." But she also didn't quite understand how to use it. "Margaret do you want a bath?" "No." Ok, that's reasonable. But then "Margaret do you want a cookie?" "No." So it wasn't quite clear that she understood what she meant.

Lately, her No's have gotten quite a bit more emphatic. One of the key times that this arises has been when she has a dirty diaper. "Margaret, are you stinky?" we ask. "No" is the inevitable response. "Do you need to go potty?" we ask thinking that might encourage an interest in the potty. "No." (She will sometimes declare that she's stinky, but when we ask her, will then deny it.)

But today, we got a new response for the first time. "Margaret, are you stinky?" I asked. You could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she considered the question. Finally, she responded "Yessss." Then, "Did you go potty?" "Yessss." "Do you need to go potty?" "Yesss." I had to capture this momentous event for posterity, so see the following video (in which I also prompt her to announce herself as a menance.) And, at the end of the video, I get a clear admission that she's "stinky."

But at the end of the day, I'm not quite sure that she understands the proper use of the word yes since later on I asked "Do you want to read another book?" "Yesssss." Reasonable. "Do you want to get in bed?" That certainly warrants a No, but I got a "Yessss."