Terrible Twos!

You know, I actually forgot how much fun it is to have an (almost) two year old! What with all the whining and screaming and tantrums (and that's just me), it's been INSANE! Honestly, I have a much easier time dealing with the contradictions that are a two-year-old when compared with the constant power struggle that exists with a three-year-old. But sometimes...

I forgot what it's like to have someone stand next to you in the morning while you're trying to prepare breakfast for 5 people and say, "Mommy, hold you! Mommy, Hold You! MOMMY!!! HOLD YOU!!!!" Then, you pick her up and she says, "NO!" and wants down. Then you give her breakfast...NO! Then you change her diaper (luckily, I've gotten pretty good at changing a wet one while the child is standing - something I'm quite proud of, thankyouverymuch) while she screams, "STOP! STOP!" like you're sawing off her leg with a dull knife. I forgot about the drama - when you take away a no-no and she throw herself on the ground with her little head in her hands and sobs, "oh, no."

I also forgot some of the fun. She can say three-syllable words - like strawberry and dinosaur and umbrella. And the cute way she says some words just a little bit wrong (my favorite right now - pooky - for spooky). She can parrot back book after book, although she can't seem to grasp the different colors yet.

And then there are the two-year-old girl things that I've never experienced before. Like pigtails. And tights. And Tinkerbell costumes.

You know, this mommy thing really is all it's cracked up to be. If I could just find a good set of earplugs...