The first lie?

It began like this--

Me: "Annabelle, is that kibble in your mouth?"

Annabelle: "Nooo."

The evidence, however, was indisputable. She was by the kibble bucket, there was kibble all around the floor and kibble in her hand. As sure as God made green onions, she was eating kibble.

But was the evidence indisputable? Was it her intent to lie? With her limited verbal skills, the answer to almost any question is no, to wit this exchange--

Hieu: "Annabelle do you love your papa?"

Annabelle: "Noooo."

Hieu(panicked): "what?"

Me: "She says that for everything. Watch this-- Annabelle, do you love your ba-pa?" (grandpa, who is her favorite person in the world)

Annabelle: "nooooo."

Hieu:(relief) "oh thank god."


So maybe no sometimes does mean yes. It's not like I was going to take the kibble away from her, she eats it all the time, so there was really no reason to lie. Right? At any rate, you can tell what she hears a lot. Super great parenting on my part.