3-2-1, 1-2-3

Abby recently learned how to "count" with her fingers. Really, all she does is hold up both her hands by her head with one hand holding five fingers and the other with only her pointer up (and Dad, she counts with her right hand so I know you would totally approve). It all started a couple weeks ago when Roy took Abby out to the playground and he would count "1-2-3" and she would give a good push off to go down the slide. Well, here's how her counting ability back-fired this week:

• I babysat a girl a few months older than Abby the other day. Abby's friend pushed Abby over one too many times so I told her that she was going to get a time-out. Maybe 18 months is too early for time-out, but the girls needed the separation. Anyway, we went to the corner, I made her face the wall, and counted to 10. She whimpered, but knew she had to stand still and we were done. As soon as she walked away from me, Abby shoved her way into the space between me and the corner, put her face in the corner, and held her counting fingers up. It was all I could do not to lose it laughing!
• The next day, we were at Shoppers for a handful of groceries. I don't normally let Abby sit in the big part of the basket, but we were only getting a few things and she was wiggly and I let her win that battle. She did just fine sitting down holding our bread for the first 2 minutes. And then she stood up. With my "mean mommy" face, I told her she needed to sit down before I got to 5 and started counting. With my fingers, of course. She obediently sat down (on 5, with a big grin). This happened a few more times until she would start to stand up, I put on my mean face, and she would stop halfway and plop down. As I was grabbing yogurt, she stood up. I looked at her and before I could do anything, her counting fingers were up and she was blabbing away. And then she sat down. That little stinker had me laughing through whatever mean face I was able to maintain.