Terrible 2s

Juliette never had a terrible two stage. She was terrific. If anything she was more difficult in her threes than her twos. Now Nicholas on the other hand is a little different. I think it must be a boy thing. That guy can throw tantrums like nobody's business. It's an all out throw yourself on the ground, scream, kick and punch your way until you get what you want. Yesterday I carried him to his room for a time out and told him to come down when he finished crying. He came all the way downstairs and was still crying so I had to do it again. The second time he came down he was done. Juliette could take her time outs on the stairs. Of course Juliette is getting a little bit of an attitude with us. We have to work hard at curbing some of the talk back that she does and refusals of carrying out basic requests (like pick up your toys). It's so easy to do things yourself that the kids just assume you are their personal servants.

Nicholas' favorite story right now is "If you give a mouse a cookie". It's a clever little book about a mouse and the consequence of certain actions (such as if you give him a cookie, he'll ask for milk and then he'll ask for a straw and then a napkin ... then he'll want a cookie). I've read it enought now that I can recite it from memory which comes in handy when I'm trying to calm Nicholas down and get him to do something I want.

Nicholas has also found a way of falling on his face on a regular basis. He's had a few bleeding noses as a result. I remember Juliette falling at this age but I don't remember her falling so hard. Yesterday we were reading the story "from head to toe" where the kids imitate animals and when Nicholas attempted to kick his feed in the air from a crawling position like a donkey his arms collapsed and he broke his fall with his face. Now there's a bruise just under his nose which always makes me a little sad when I see it but he's gotten over the ordeal. Good thing they have short memories.