Whining

Laila's been whining a lot lately.

I'm not blaming her though. The people at the house are really making an effort to make her whine.

Biggest of all teasers is Daddy Cat, who begins her day by waking her up. He then counts 1 to 10, an indication that a race to the sofa is about to begin. If you've just woken up, would you be in the mood to race anywhere but back to sleep? Or Daddy Cat would tickle her feet or nibble on her ears. He also ends her day with a major dose of teasing, from tickling to anything that would make her cream and whine.

Cousins John and Anne, who are both staying with us for the summer, aren't any easier on Baby Cat either. They don't mean to tease her, but they just ended up that way without meaning to. And so Laila ends up whining more lately.

I know Laila whines because of the stimuli around her. As much as I want to protect her from this stimuli, I can't be beside her all the time. Besides, it's good if she learns to stand up for herself.

We're still into enriching her vocabulary and her ability to express herself in words. She's quite verbal for her age already. Her teacher's told me about it more than once. So I know we're getting closer to the point where she wouldn't need to resort to whining to get her message across.

If she knows how to express her feelings and thoughts in words, she wouldn't whine.