Conversations with a 2 year old

Yesterday, Axie, from the back of the minivan, called out, "Mom, Scott is not being hayve!" A little while later, she scolded him, "Scott, beHAVE!" 

I love this picture of her from a recent dental check-up.

If you are wondering who this Axie is, Elizabeth has decided to go by her middle name. It's Swedish, after my great-great-grandmother, who was quite a spunky woman, a problem solver who could take care of herself. I don't know if the name is having an effect on her or if it's just coincidence, but Axie is very Axie. She's funny and independent and sweet all at once, and she hit the whys from one day to the next. When I dropped her off at Grandma Gail's yesterday, she was fine. When I picked her up a few hours later, she was asking why, why, why. 

Tonight, looking at a large framed print on our wall, she said, "Mommy, look at that lady." 
"Yes," I answered, "she's looking at the boats."
"Why?" she asked me.
"Why do YOU think she's looking at the boats?" I asked her back.
"No, Mommy, YOU think. I am not thinking," she insisted. 
"But you asked the question," I returned, forgetting that using logic with a 2 year old is pointless.
"No, YOU asked the question," she countered. And that was that.

Axie loves to read books. Note the pile in the picture below that she picked out herself from the library today. She adores her baby sister, Emily, and loves to sit with her. She points to herself and says, "Big sister", then points at Emily, "Little sister!" "Mommy, can I hold her hand?" When Axie is tired, she tells me she is cold, which means she wants to lie down under a blanket. Axie enjoys helping with cooking (this is usually stirring something in a pot or pushing the button on the blender), doing dishes, and spraying stains in the laundry. She loves baths and playing at the park, especially on the swings. She sings the clean-up song and puts away books and toys. A few days ago, I was upstairs with Ethan and lost my temper. I was shouting, and Axie came upstairs in the middle of it. "Mommy, you need to settle down." She was right, and I was grateful to her for calmly pointing it out. Anytime my voice even threatened to get louder in the continuing conversation, she reminded me to settle down. 

It's fuzzy, but I still like it.