I think Nora has officially entered the terrible twos.

I know she is my third child, and I should be expecting this. I have been through this with 2 other kids, right? Funny thing is I must have amnesia or something because I swear I just don’t remember it being quite like this. I remember Ian being crazy and active, but I don’t remember him doing things specifically to push my buttons. I am sure that both he and Emma both acted like that, but I just don’t remember right now.

I also don’t remember how to deal with it. I watch her do things and I just feel powerless and flabbergasted sometimes. This morning was particularly difficult. She woke up about 5:30am and started calling for someone to come get her. Her yelling woke Emma up, so Emma went and got her out of bed. The first thing Nora did was come into our room and ask for “yummies”. When we grunted at her and rolled over an went back to sleep she broke down in tears. The same thing happened over and over for about an hour, until I finally got up and made her breakfast. She ate a few bites and then proceeded to throw her entire bowl of cereal onto the floor, milk and all.

Next she grabbed Emma’s box of crayons, looked straight at me, and threw the whole box onto the floor. Emma’s new crayons went all over and many of them broke. I was so angry at her. I asked her to pick them all up. She looked at me and said “No mommy, I not pick up the crayons”. UGH! I picked her up and plopped her down next to them and told her not to get up until they were all picked up. While she was picking them up she kept saying “Mommy, you are stupid” and “Mommy, I hate you.” After some prodding she did finally pick them up, but I was so angry at her.

Today was her first official day at school and I was so glad to drop her off. I felt bad after I left for feeling that way, but she just pushed my buttons this morning. I feel bad for losing my temper with her and yelling, but sometimes I just can’t help it. I know that this is a phase, but for now I just need to figure out how to deal with her.

I had a talk with my good friend Vicky today. I really value her parenting advice. She gave me some good tips. She reminded me how I dealt with Emma when she had some of these defiance issues when she turned 6. I realized that she was just rebelling because she needed more independence. I think that Nora is trying to tell me the same thing. She isn’t a baby anymore. She has been ready to move out of her high chair for a while. I think now is the time to move her. She is a great sleeper, so she is probably ready to start getting up when she is ready. It is probably time for me to move her to a bed, or at least take the side off her crib so that she can get in and out of her bed. I think that these things will help with some of her issues, now I just need to gear up to make some of the changes.