We have officially entered the "terrible two's" phase of life with our pumpkin. Vanna is 2 years and 3 months old now and over the past few months, it seems she is undergoing a transformation of sorts. While she is normally a sweet, soft-spoken little thing, new characteristics that have developed within her are beginning to expose themselves. These include:
-the desire/ability to "fight back" - Before this transformation, Vanna would simply come to me crying when Cash had upset her but now she is more likely to stand her ground, shout, "No", and take a swipe at him. Where did this come from?
How did we go from here (picture above) to where we are now? :)
-the "I'm so angry I might explode" scream - Vanna was born with the "gift" of an exhuberant bloody murder scream but the scream has changed and/or transformed. :) Most often the scream shows its beautiful self during a meltdown that Vanna is learning the art of. While the scream itself is intimidating (she gets so loud and produces it so forcefully that her head shakes), it is most commonly accomanied by leg kicking, arm flailing activities that make it almost impossible to endure. My mom has commented that the girl should have larengitis (is that the right spelling) after a fit like that. Although I believe that some of this behavior comes naturally at this age, I am doing my best to find the source of such frustration and illiminate it before we have such outbursts. What perhaps bothers me even more than the outburst itself, is the reaction Cash has to it. He will come to me (because Cash is often the one being screamed at - at least in the beginning) and say, "Vanna not love me". I have to explain that she does love him - no matter how upset she might seem at him - she does love him. She is just exploring new emotions and have a hard time understanding what is and is not okay sometimes. I hate to have those feelings even cross his mind however, and try to create the opposite atmosphere (of love and caring) between them during our level headed moments so that when an outburst does arise, I can refer back to when they were playing so well together and tell him,"Remember when...and Vanna showed you how much she loves you?" Truly, the kids are hardly seperable.
I know this phase will pass (I remember Cash behaving much the same way at this age, although not quite to this extent) but for the time being, is there any advice you mothers have for me? How did you discipline your kids when they had meltdowns/outbursts?-her sassy "it's my way or the highway" attitude that sometimes shines through - Vanna is very particular in the things she wants. For example, she loves shoes (so much that she would even wear them during her naps and at night until we decided we had to break that little habit before her feet stopped growing or something) and she knows what shoes she wants to wear most everyday. If she's upset and can't find her blanket, she's even more upset if Cash finds it and brings it to her rather than Mommy (or the opposite way around - depending on her mood). However, because of this characteristic, Vanna has learned to do many things for herself (as she demands to do it by herself without any help) which include: getting dressed, getting undressed, doing up and undoing buttons, buckling up carseat, twisting lids on and off, brushing her own teeth, etc. She's really quite an independent little girl.
Oh, you can imagine the fun we've been having at our house. We definitely feel like we have our hands full. However, outbursts seem somewhat few and far between (but you know how they can just consume your thoughts) and truly, it really is quite fun around here most of the time.
Some of Vanna's favorite things are to swing, and eat popsicles. Here she has put her popsicle in the grass (to save and finish off later) so as not to miss an opportunity to get pushed in the swing.
She also loves loves loves bubbles, lipgloss, lotion and changing her clothes often (typical girl right?). She is learning the art of duck, duck, goose and hide and seek. She loves to participate in action songs and adores our kitty (whom she's termed Hankee). She simply must have each and every "owey" kissed better and likes to kiss your every body part, from the neck up, before going to bed (it's quite the process and effort to delay bedtime). She is also quite the little helper - she's excellent at throwing things away, helping me unload the dishwasher (she likes picking up and putting things away - period) and likes to help pick peas in the garden.
Oh, how we love our little girl - and everything that comes with her (even if it is the sassy attitude :)).
