Twoish behavior

I took Gemma to the doctor on Monday.  She has been out of sorts for a week or so.  A few days is understandable, but after a week of grumpiness, lack of eating and interrupted sleep, it was time to confirm there wasn't anything else going on.

We arrived at the doctor appointment and I checked us in.  Amelia sat next to me and paged through a magazine she brought from home.  Gemma sat on my lap and eyed everything/everyone cautiously.  After a few moments of examinations, Gemma hopped off my lap and approached the wooden toy found in every doctor office.  She played happily for ten minutes of so, occasionally pausing to smile and send flirtatious looks at the other patients waiting.

It started to feel like a long time.

Everyone who was there when we arrived was called back to the exam rooms (separately, obviously) along with a few people who arrived after us.  The toy wasn't holding her interest quite so much anymore.  A slew of new patients arrived.  The majority were parents with teenaged children.

Amelia was showing me a page in the magazine she was reading when I saw it the first time.

Gemma drew her foot back and kicked the activity toy.  Every bead and attachment jumped/slid/jangled.

"Gemma!  No! No!"

Gemma's face then broke into the most devilish, delightful smile you have ever seen.  Two of the parents of teens laughed out loud at the sight of her angelic curls and naughty smile.  In the space of a heartbeat, she dramatically pulled her foot back again, checked to be sure I was watching and kicked the toy again.

I covered my smile with my hand and I pulled her onto my lap for a short time out.

Moments later, she wiggles away and pretends to look out the window for only a second before returning to the toy in the center of the room.  This time she stands on the side furthest away from me before completing the same routine: check to be sure Mama is watching, dramatic wind up with the leg and a swift kick.  And then again as I'm walking around the toy to pick her up again.

Back to my lap.  I remind her we don't kick and she giggles and tries to wiggle away.

We repeat this over three more times until she has kicked each side of the toy (and back to the first side again) to determine if the rules are going to be consistent.

They were.

We were finally called back to an exam room, which ended the game.

She did not have an ear infection or any other physical ailment that the doctor could diagnose. Her only physical problem was that her bottom molars are broken through and her upper molars are starting to come through.