Terrible Twos

We have finally reached a really terrible point in the "terrible twos." Amelia is so headstrong and so difficult some days it is beyond exhausting. She has taken to yelling for everything and refuses to "ask" nicely. We have a baby sign for "please" that we use and the past couple of days she won't even use it and I have no idea why!

So many little things are adding up these days with her that I sometimes have to walk away from her when she is acting up just to relax and keep my cool. It's hard to stay frustrated with her when we arrive home after a trying afternoon and evening and she is sleeping so sweetly in the backseat:


I know that part of our problems stem from communication. Amelia still isn't talking very much and I think it is becoming more frustrating for us all - herself included! We have noticed just this past week that she is trying really hard to say things sometimes. For example, she wanted cheese last night and we kept asking her to not climb up the stool and to please just tell us what she wanted. She got up on the stool and said, "heeeeee" which I can only assume meant cheese since that is what she was reaching for which shows that she is trying.

Another part of the problems we have stems from pure stubbornness. I wonder where she gets that from? This morning she brought me a box of crackers and said, "please." I gave her a cracker and she happily ate it. When it came time for another cracker she would not say "please" and she threw the empty cracker box across the room. I told her it was not ok to throw things like that and asked her to please get me the box and then she could have another cracker. She put the box on the edge of the bed eventually and then demanded another cracker. I told her I appreciated that she picked the box up but she needed to bring it all the way to me. I know she understood the entire situation and what was being asked of her. After fifteen minutes, I got the box and put the crackers away and that was that. I didn't cave in and that is what needs to keep happening!

I have the number for a program through the school district that will evaluate your child if you have developmental concerns. We do plan on calling them but we are hoping to wait until we are living on our own again since they do come to your home for the evaluation. We have recently started looking for places to live and are currently weighing the options of a few towns that are possibilities. Once we have that narrowed down our search will become much more serious!

For the time being though, this shirt seems quite appropriate:


(it says, sometimes crabby - but always cute!)