Topsy turvy TWO

We've hit the "terrible twos" ya'll. Except I'm choosing to refer to it as the Topsy Turvy Twos. I'm saving "terrible" for three if Big A is any indication of what's to come.

Little A, like always, has hit this milestone with a vengeance. One minute, she was my sweet, laid-back little girl, the next she's become a bundle of drama with several new tricks and phrases.

One of these is "I do." Sounds simple enough, but can lead to hours of "fun" as she applies the phrase from everything from putting her shoes on to buckling her own carseat to brushing her teeth. I'm glad she is trying to be independent, but sometimes I just don't want to wait ten minutes for her to mash the two buckles together over and over again. When I finally do it because we have to be somewhere, she fa-reaks out. Yelling, screaming and crying ensue and I've learned to tune most of it out.

Another new trick is the all-out tantrum. I'm talking flailing her body onto the floor with force, screaming and crying and then...she breaks out the roll. The good thing is that usually halfway through the roll she cracks herself up and starts laughing. A nice way to end the tantrum without mommy having to step in.

Yet another habit she has is running. When she runs, she looks like a horse on steroids, its sort of a up and down gallop that gets her nowhere fast. Every once in a while, she likes to stop and "jump" which she has just figured out. She doesn't get much air, but she's pretty impressed with herself.

Its challenging entering a stage like this just when you were lulled into thinking things were getting easy. I guess its all part of that parenting thing keeping you on your toes. Also making this stage hard is that fact that she's just too darn cute. Its so obvious that she's just trying to grow up and figure out the world around her. Just wish she would slow down and let me help her!