Same thing we do every night, Pinky...

Have I mentioned lately how fast Nora's vocabulary is growing? Because it's fast. It's extraordinarily nice to have her ask for book, ball, water, help, more, outside, etc. And it's even nicer that she appears to think that the only way to distinguish between talking about these things and asking for them is to say "please." She even said, "more water please" the other day.

She says, "Where's the ball?" so often that I want to velcro that thing to her thorax. Did I ever think it was cute that she wanted to play ball with Suma? Perish the thought.

And of course, with the power of speech comes the power of persuasion. We just ended a director's cut of the bedtime ritual that contained many iterations of the following conversation:

Nora: Milk?

Mom: No. It's time for bed.

Nora: Water?

Mom: No. It's time for bed.

Nora: Apple?

Mom: No. It's time for bed.

Nora: Book?

Mom: Story time is over. It's time for bed.

Nora: Book, Mama. Mo' book. Pease? Pease, mo' book?

Mom: That's a nice way to ask, but no. All done with books. It's time for bed.

Then, Nora wrapped her little, stumpy arms around my neck and started snuggling and kissing my cheek and rubbing my hair. Shameless. Effective, but shameless.

Strangely enough, when I actually put her in her crib, she just stood at the edge and watched me walk to the door. Then, she laid down and cuddled with her monkey. I never heard a peep out of her. I expected a tantrum. Who knows what she's thinking? Maybe at that point, she says to herself, "It was a well-matched game against a solid opponent. I am content to lose this round."

Or maybe, she's sitting in her darkened room, right now, plotting against me.