Who Flipped her Sassy Switch?

I remember when she was all sweet and enjoyed helping us out.

"Sophie, can you help me put on your shirt, please?" you'd say, and she'd rush over to oblige.

Now it's all "No, my Dis!" and "walk away!" Or if she's not in the mood for active resistance, she just completely ignores you. I mean completely. It's uncanny the degree to which she can utterly, absolutely and in no way respond to somebody talking to her, and tugging at her from less than two feet away. Total disregard. It's really impressive.

Of course we are able to physically overpower her, so diapers are still changed, baths are taken, and bedtimes observed. But to pick up this child when she doesn't want to be interfered with is like setting off a powerful and impressive anti-theft mechanism: she hoots and shrieks loudly, and alternates postures of limp noncompliance with ramrod straight stiff-as-a-board-ism.

This morning it took her mother 45 minutes to hunt her down and wrestle some clothes on her. That's 45 minutes her father had to pretend to sleep through! (It's been rough for us all).

There's considerable sweetness leavening the stubborn defiance though. She gave me an "ah lub ooo" yesterday, and melted her JNanners when she climbed into her lap, gave her a hug and told her "my happy, JJ".