We've Hit the Terrible Twos. Or Maybe Mommy Just Sucks.

The Terrible Twos:

A child development stage which normally occurs around the age of two (but can start earlier) and consists of toddlers often saying no and throwing temper tantrums.  -Wikipedia

Yep.

I've alluded to it before, but Ryan is fully immersed in the "terrible twos" development stage. He's there.  And I'm ready for it to be over.  The sense of independence that he has developed is right in line with what experts say will happen around this time.  However, when you add red hair and the LeConey name, it's a little more threatening. 

His tantrums seems to be worse than before.  And to top it off, they seem to be worse with me rather than Josh.  Already I have to delegate responsibilities to Josh that are just plain easier because he is daddy.  For example, if Josh is home he is the one to put him to bed now.  Up until about a month ago, I always put Ryan to bed with ease.  Then, all of a sudden the inner demon in him came out where he chose to scream, kick, arch his back, try to break free of the crib tent, and consequently throw his paci out of the crib...which then pisses him off even more.  I would sit in the living room next to Tyler hearing him yell, "Moooooommy!!!!"  He wouldn't just yell it, but he would screech it so loud that I prayed our neighbors didn't hear him and wonder if I was abusing our son.

As an FYI, when Josh puts him to bed, he is a complete angel.

The same goes with middle-of-the-night crying.  If Josh is home, he can get him to calm down.  If I go in there, all hell breaks loose.

The other tantrum trigger involves mealtime.  In all honesty, mealtime is every 30 minutes to Ryan.  His latest discovery is that he does not want to sit in his booster seat.  No, my friends.  He has promoted himself to a regular chair complete with a kneel to reach the table to eat.  He demands, "cookie! cookie," to which I usually respond saying "we don't have cookies."

Drama starts again.  The screaming, the arching, the kicking.  Daddy comes in, and he almost always calms down.

Preschool drop offs.  They suck royally lately.  After what I can only assume was quality time at home all last week with Josh, he either misses that time with Josh or really hates our new car.

(By the way, we got a new car.  Perhaps another post. )

This week, Ryan has literally screamed from the second I put him into the car to the second I walk out of preschool.  The past two days, I've had to pry him from the car and carry him over my shoulders into the school.  This morning, I had to carry in him, a huge box of diapers, and a container of wipes.  I left the bookbag in the car for later.  Miraculously, I made it into the secured entry door, but then little redhead escaped out of my arms and was ready to head back out the door.  He had just opened the door before I grabbed him up.  We walked into the nice and quiet classroom where his teacher was reading a book to the children, and I yelled over Ryan's screams, "We're here!  Guess you knew that though."  I put Ryan down.  He grabs the bottoms of my pants.  I nicely dangle my leg as if to get him to let go.  And then I run out of the building.  Fast.

I could go on and on with stories and examples, but the fact of the matter is that, yes, we've hit the "terrible twos."  But I can't help but take it a little personally that they all seem to be with me around.