A supreme lack of concern for other's opinions...

That is how I would sum up Lila's attitude lately.  I don't remember my other two being so strong willed at this age. A perfect example is how she learns.  I know that she is a dang smart cookie.  I have heard her count to ten, correctly name shapes and colors, and even recognize most numbers and letters.  However, she will not do so on demand, or even on request.  She is no one's preforming monkey, this one.  And frequently she will answer a question by me incorrectly, just to try and get under my skin. I can see it in her eyes.

Case in point. Today she came upstairs for a diaper change (and when I say "she came upstairs" what I really mean is she came kicking and screaming being carried by her brother who had pulled her off of the television for the 37th time and thought she needed a diaper change...) carrying a small plastic cow in one hand and a pig in the other.  Our conversation while I was changing her went like this:

Me: What do you have there?

Lila: A horse.

Me: That's not a horse, silly girl, that's a cow.

Lila: Oh. This cow.

Me: Right. What does a cow say?

Lila: Rrrrooooaaaar!

Me: No. A cow says moo.

Lila: No. Cow no say moo. Cow says rrrrroar! And this not cow, this horse.

Me: Fine. What does a horse say?

Lila: Moo.

Me: (deciding to change the subject) What's this animal?

Lila: Pig.

Me: Right! What does the pig say?

Lila: boink boink boink


Clearly I have failed as a mother by not singing Old McDonald Had a Farm enough with this child.  I hope she isn't held back through life by an inability to correctly recognize and reproduce animal noises...