Walking the line

As she approaches the age of two, we have noticed Mariana becoming very adept at not outright obeying but walking the line between obedience and disobedience. Case in point...

Yesterday we found ourselves at Lowe's where Daddy could not resist purchasing a beautiful multicolored ornamental pepper plant to add to his spice/herb garden. We placed it in the seat part of the basket and let the girls ride together in the big part. They promptly each picked one of the irresistible peppers. So Austin decided to taste. Of course they wanted to do the same. So after some pepper tasting, they were instructed strictly not to pick any more peppers. We walked along a bit, talking about different projects we have awaiting our attention, only to be alerted by Mariana's confession, "Eating it" (chomp, chomp). However, no pepper was in her hand or otherwise visible. Then Allia proceeded to imitate Mariana's clever action, bending over into the little bush and taking her own bite from the plant without touching it at all with her hands. We had a great laugh at Mariana's ingenuity and then decided to stow the poor plant in the under carriage cargo area to remove the temptation. Crazy girls! Aha, but justice prevails. Those last bites proved to be spicier samples than the first and they were both crying and begging for water a few minutes later!