happy little dictator

i was scrolling through our dvr recordings and was baffled to find that six minutes of a hairstyles program had been recorded. could violet be unhappy with the state of her 'do?



much like the keys, the remote control is another new favorite "toy" that is hell to get away from her once she has her hands on it. i was eagerly following a ravioli recipe the other day when the sound dropped out just before the "secret ingredient" was revealed. the down volume button is one of violet's favorites. and i swear to you, every time i look up, the screen is featuring high school football. i don't know how that's possible, given that it's july, but there you have it. high school football games with no sound. apparently the happy little dictator knows what she likes: older boys with big muscles who don't talk.



it really is incredible to see how violet is becoming a person with preferences and opinions. when i take away something that she wants (and she is wise to "trades" that exchange a dollar for a dime), she yanks my hair hard, her eyes ablaze. i don't think i've seen furious "eyes ablaze" so definitively before now, nor do i think i've felt "bleeding from the head" so definitively before now. we're working on "gentle," but that's like saying we're working on organic chemistry. "ouch! that hurts mommy" is apparently uproariously hilarious.

but despite the pain, it's awesome how interactive violet is becoming. she knows what we mean when we ask her to roll her ball back to us (even if "roll" in violetspeak is "throw hard at the ground in your general direction"), and she can follow other requests like "arms up" or



a couple of weeks ago she started clapping, and oh my god is it freaking cute.



kevin is trying to teach her the slow clap, so i'll keep you updated on that (along with the scores of her o-chem exams).