From day one, Zoodle has generally been a fairly easy kid to take care of. He's usually a decent sleeper, and he is pretty compliant, and while he isn't cheerful 100% of the time, he tends to be a happy kid.
But about a week after his birthday, he must have woken up and suddenly said, "Hey...I'm two years old! I'd better start acting like it!"
Suddenly my little sweetie pie is exerting his independence.
"I do it!!!" he cries, as he tries to open a string cheese package that is definitely not meant to be opened by two-year-old hands.
"I want mommyyyyyy!" he wails as he tries to open his bedroom door, having climbed from his big boy bed at bedtime.
"I want daddyyyyy!" he insists when Mommy holds him.
"I want Grammyyyyy!" he begs at random times.
And "Ah gan in iwamah go!" he says, over and over and over. Or he says something like that, and your guess on the translation is as good as mine.
I suppose I was silly to think it would always be smooth sailing...but some days I just wish my 24 1/2-month-old would be replaced in the night by his 23-month-old self. Of course, to get to the point that I have a potty trained child who can dress himself, I guess we have to make it through this age.
Thankfully, he entertains me with what he says; he impresses me with the skills he gains; and he still has a frequent smile that melts my mommy heart.
I guess that means he's a pretty awesome kid after all.
5 comments:
I soooo feel you on this one. My Zach was always a laid back little dude... until he turned 2. Now he screams and cries and can turn it on and off at will. He's demanding and pushy and whiney. But he's also absolutely adorable and melts my heart at every turn.
My efforts on Sunday worked pretty well. I was hard core about it. 1 warning and then done. 1 warning in the form of a choice- change your attitude or go to bed; use a normal voice or got to bed; listen to what I'm asking you to do or go to your bed- and if it continued, off to bed! It only took a couple of trips down the hall to the bed for the kids to catch on and realize that mom meant serious business.
Lizzy can't undo string cheese packages by herself (much as she tries) - BUT, she can unwrap and de-wax a BabyBel all by herself (those red individually wrapped cheeses, sold in bulk at Costco). You could try those and see if they satisfy Zoodle's cravings for cheese and independence!
With Lizzy's second birthday approaching, I'm just kind of dreading getting through that year again! I feel like, "I already guided Abby through that trying phase! I don't want to do it again!" But, the beauty of having an older child is knowing that these phases will pass - leaving babyhood is hard on these kids, but they emerge as such fun preschoolers!
I'm pretty sure "Ah gan in iwamah go!" means he wants to come visit me. Right? Because he knows he's my favorite internet two-year-old.
I guess my nephew has been doing the terrible twos since his baby sister was born (so around 21 months). He can't stand not always being the center of attention.
One of my friends recommended the book "Parenting with Love and Logic." It's a whole series and they have one for early childhood that is very good. It helps with all of those "independence" issues by giving kids choices. I really like it!
I would take the 2 yr old version of my oldest over the 3.5 yr version any day...now, when she doesn't like the answer I've given- she yells "Oh, COME ON" at me, in the same way a man yells at a sports ref on TV... at 2, she was so sweet. :)
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