Terrible Twos

Madison has been such an enjoyable, complient child... too bad she's turning 2 soon. It's like she knows it too and has been working overtime the past week or so to live up to the 'terrible two' name. She's gone through 'no' phases before -- usually she's just saying it because she can. Lately she's started saying it quite frequently and adding a defiant "you gonna make me?" look to go along with it. We've not had that before. Fun fun.

Welcome to the school of hard knocks, Madison! With Madison testing us constantly, Matt and I now get the unenjoyable task as parents to mean what we say and follow through. Part of that lately has meant teaching Madison that when she says 'no', she needs to mean what she says, too. This morning I told her it was time for a nap and asked her if she wanted to read a book first - which is what we usually do. With a defiant tip to her head she said, "No!" Ok, I said, Then it's off to bed. I picked her up and carried her into her room as she started crying saying, "No no no! I want book!" I calmly told her - I'm sorry, Madison, but when I asked you if you wanted to read a book, you said no. So then I went to put her in bed and asked, Do you want to sing Twinkle, Twinkle? - which she always asks to do. Today she responded, "No!" Ok then, I said, 'night 'night -- and I left the room. After I left I could hear her wailing in there, "Wait! Wait! Twinkle Star, Momma!" She's such a sweet little sinner, isn't she? ;-) I hope she's the type that learns lessons quickly and her defiant stage doesn't last all the way through to age 3!