Oh Terrific Two's, Oh How I love thee....

I know that everyone says that every child goes through "terrible two's". I seem to think that no child is terrible. Children love to explore, learn and yes, get into things. Natalie is 20 months old, she has been such a joy in our family. There have been very few times when she had cried because she wanted something, or because she didn't want to work for one of her therapists. Today was my first experience with having a toddler throw a tantrum in public. First tantrum was early this morning, we ran to Walmart to get some diapers for Eva. As we were getting in the van, she cried because she didn't want to get in her car seat. The trip to Walmart wasn't so bad, she rode in the cart and pointed to things along the way. As we were leaving, we stopped and I let her ride the Mickey Mouse car ride. When it was over, I told her that it was all done, she cried and cried and cried all the way out the door. I'm sure people across the way were thinking that I pinched her or something. We made it to the car, I got her all buckled in, gave her a sippy cup, she was happy with that. We came home, it was shortly after 9 am. So we played, watched Sid the Science Kid, ate a snack. She was starting to get tired, so around 10:30 am, I laid her down for a nap. She talked and cried for a little bit but finally fell a sleep and slept for about an hour and a half. After lunch, we met my parents at our church building for a Emergency Preparedness workshop. When we walked in, Natalie was in the stroller, but wanted out, so we took her out. We all started walking down the hallway, Natalie wanted to go the other way. I went to get her, she immediately started to cry. So I let her go where she wanted, she went to the sign in table, reached up, grabbed a balloon animal that was on the table. The girl, said that she could have it. Natalie was one happy toddler with that balloon animal. We walk into the gym, which was filled with vendors, and people. She was everywhere. My parents and siblings helped me with her. We were trading off between carrying Eva and chasing Natalie around. She enjoyed playing with the balloons that were scattered about. As we were leaving, she refused to go outside! She loves being outside. She threw another tantrum, cried and cried!! I finally got her out, she wanted nothing to do with me, she wanted to walk and do her own thing. With the help of my family, we got her to the car and in her car seat. The drive home, was nice, I played a nursery rhyme CD and I sang along with her. Once we were home, she was great. She played, talked and we read books together. Daddy was awake so they played together. After dinner and a bath, she and I had prayer together, read some books, and I tucked her into bed. Within 10 minutes, she was crying and crying. 30 minutes later, I go into check on her, she was standing her bed, with just her pants on, blanket, pillow and baby doll on the floor. I took her out, put her shirt back on, and I rocked her for a while. She wanted to get down and play. By this time, it was 8 pm, I made her a sippy cup of water, tucked her back in her bed with her blanket, she cried again but just for a few minutes, then fell a sleep. I love her so much! I hope that these tantrums today were just from lack of sleep, she woke up last night and stayed awake for about 2 hours, then she was up at 6:45 am and then she didn't nap as long as she usually does. She is such a fun, vibrant, smart, adorable little girl. I've loved watching her grow and mature. So know matter what....she will always be a TERRIFIC toddler in my eyes.