I think your best bet is to distract her with something else.

Forget about terrible twos, it starts much earlier.  I'm being tested every day by my 14 month old.  I believe in discipline, but I just don't know when they have enough self-control and understanding to make it feasible.  Some days I think he's just frustrated and other times I think he knows exactly what he's doing.

J also does a DD that we didn't teach him. In fact, I think I could learn from his form. He also has been testing limits and no's for several months. And sometimes I have trouble not laughing. When he was younger I would ignore, but now I do try to physically pull him away from what he's doing (after a warning) because otherwise there are no consequences. The laughing is hard to avoid sometimes, but when he starts to do something really dangerous or scary, then I definitely can keep a straight face!

This is exactly our 10 month old. She has started pulling up on things, including the tub. But when I say 'no' and place her down on her bum she laughs maniacally and does it again. After the third time, bath time is over! What makes me laugh is the one-handed grab with the twinkle in her eye - all while watching my reaction...definitely testing me already!

Oh, I remember when my daughter used to do that. She was so stinkin' funny. I would tell her no and she would just stare at me, unblinking, with this straight face until I couldn't help but laugh. My 1 year old would have a staring contest with me! And as soon as I would laugh, she would smile and go back to doing what she had been doing when I said no. Good luck with Clio!

That only gets worse as they get older. Now that my youngest is a teenager, we both do this horrible thing where we laugh when we're really angry with each other. I always say, "I am really mad at you." And she responds, "I know. I'm mad at you too." Then we continue to laugh. Weird.

There's nothing cuter than baby yoga.  How can you discipline a budding bodhisattva?

Oh Roper, this is just the beginning.... my son is 5.5 year old and still goes through testing "phases." Just when you think you've got them conformed [;-)], there they go again! You have to turn away when you are laughing or smiling otherwise they will surely call your bluff!

Ok so redirecting her won't work b/c you are usually occupied when she tries this... how about a little weird reverse psychology?! Put double stick tape all over the post of the light so that when she grabs it, her hand sticks to it-- that'll totally freak her out -- and could quite possibly work!

i read something recently that called it "toddler chutzpa." sounds like clio has a lot of chutzpa! my chutzpa-ers totally take advantage when i am occupied with the other one. the changing table time is when they know i am the weakest. on the sticky lamp suggestion: my kids (16 months)would be all over a sticky lamp. it would actually make it more appealing to them.

I'm with betty, if we put sticky tape on something it would become an instant source of fascination and exploration. He'd have that lamp on top of him in no time.

Jane,I too have a playful, cheeky child. And he's so adorable and funny it really is hard not to laugh sometimes. Honestly, more often than not, we do just end up laughing. His interest in things like that lamp passes quickly, but a surefire way to stoke that interest is to talk about it or say no.

In our house we call it, "Stop being interesting." If my husband takes a spoon and raps it on a glass to make tinkly drumming noises, that's time to "stop being interesting." Cade will smash a glass with a spoon if he tries that.

Basically, I guess it comes down to picking and choosing battles. If you pick the lamp as a battle, then you have to win. If it seems unwinnable, let it go, unless she's in harm's way.

You're a good mom, she'll learn what no means, even if you crack up once in awhile.    

A poker face is definitely a parent's best friend. There are tons of things our kids will do that are both hilarious and inappropriate to encourage.

Cade has probably tossed about $100 worth of food on the floor in his nearly 2 years, one tiny bite at a time. He's getting better about not doing it, and we've united on dealing with it. Tonight he tossed a strawberry and piece of cantaloupe on the floor and started laughing. He was finished eating, (obviously), so I let him down and asked him to pick the food up and give it to me. Instead he picked it up, grinned at me and ate it. I felt that was appropriate and in the spirit of this blog entry, I turned my back to him and tittered.

I'm a child psych major, babysitter, and I've read way tooo many books on kids, so hopefully the fact that I don't have kids won't discount my advice to you. ;)

The best thing you can do is explain. Like you pointed out, she doesn't know that the lamp poses a danger to her. She just found an object in the room that, when touched, elicits instant and focused responses from you (even when you're busy!). It really is a jackpot from her point of view. So if you explain that the lamp is dangerous, she will (eventually, ideally), understand that you are informing her and not engaging in some hilarious game!

How about: "Clio, that lamp is dangerous because it may fall and hurt you. Lamps are not for shaking, toys are for shaking. Why not get your (rattly, interesting toy) and shake that instead?"

My favourite word to use with kids is in these situations is, simply, "danger". It puts a distinction between "no, you can't have icecream for dinner" and "no hitting your sister", and the things that are going to HURT them. When the kid hears "DANGER!" or even "OUCH" they know that the fireplace they are about to touch (or the wobbly lamp) can hurt them and isn't just mommy or daddy's preferences about behaviour.

My cousin also made us laugh all the time when she was little. Frequently all the adults would be standing there with their hands covering smirks and tears running down their cheeks as they tried not to reinforce her bad, but hilarious, behaviour!

oh, oh, oh...me, too.  kieran does a killer downward dog and has recently graduated to forward rolls (or "up-downs" in toddler lingo).  his classic when told not to go into a particular area is to put one toe over the line.  he also loves to run away from me, giggling and looking over his shoulder all the way.  here's the prob.- he's usually cute and funny but every once and a while, usually at the end of a very long day- i get ticked off at the same thing that made me giggle an hour before.  how many years of therapy is MY kid gonna need?  anyway, i try to remind myself that he's not going to be two forever, that someday he probably wont care much what my response is, that a sense of humor is very valuable in this world...and unless he's doing something dangerous, laugh right along.  when he's doing something dangerous its either "1,2,3..." followed by timeout or, at his most incautious, a physical removal.  i'm not advising here, just commiserating.  i figure we all just do the best we can.  and they are SO DAMN FUNNY.

Unfortunately neither Evan, Robin, nor I ever went through this phase, so I can offer no advice by way of my mother (what, you thought I was the one coming up with this?). I asked my dad about it too, in case he witnessed things my mom did not, but his response was "oh, whenever you guys did something funny, we would just laugh and count it as payment for all the decidedly UNfunny and annoying things you were going to do later."

I feel that is solid advice. I also like the "be less interesting" advice. Also, I just really like Clio and her silliness and can't bear the thought of it being disciplined. Especially since the downward facing dog picture made me laugh harder than I have in days. (Please thank Clio for me.)