We have officially entered the "Terrible Twos"

When you hear about the "Terrible Twos" you imagine that is a phase that comes sometime around a child's second birthday. This was my impression. No, turns out the TT comes during the second year of life. That's right, before the second birthday and I think the boy has entered (what I hope is) a phase where he can be just beyond unbearable about a third of his waking hours. I think it has to do with a new desire for independence that is causing a lack of sleep. Yeah, I will be headed to the bookstore tomorrow to throw some money at this problem and get some advice about what to do. Gary Ezzo didn't fail me with his wise words on babies, so I'm hoping he can help me out again.

I had a moment when I realized that I was in for trouble and the light bulb went off that we are in the midst of the TT. Friday night the boy was eating his dinner-ending yogurt. He loves plain yogurt and so I treat it as a sort of "baby desert," if you will. It is totally good for him and he so thoroughly enjoys it that it is a real treat. I sit with him helping him eat the rest of his meal, but I give him his yogurt and a spoon and just let him have at it for a while. This gives me a chance to put away dishes or do something for our dinner. I digress. Friday I hand him his yogurt and tell him in a stern voice "Use your spoon." I set to work putting away the clean dishes from the dishwasher and after about two minutes I look at the boy to see him dipping his hand into the yogurt. I give him a look and say loudly "I told you to use your spoon!" Then he gives me that look of defiance. You know the one. The one you gave your parents at least twice a week when you were a teenager. The one that made them so dang mad you thought their heads were going to blow right off their bodies. That look. Then he proceeded to lick the yogurt from his fingers.

It. Made. Me. Furious.

I went over and wiped the yogurt from his hand - mainly in an effort to keep him from rubbing it in his eye - and told him again to use his spoon. No sooner had I rounded the island in the kitchen and pulled a dish out of the dishwasher, he had put his hand right back in the dairy goodness. I tried not to blow my top completely off and said to myself: "I just have to be smarter than the baby." I grabbed an extra spoon out of the drawer, again wiped his hand clean and thrust the clean spoon into his favored yogurt dipping hand. That how I ended up with this photo:



Thank goodness this little dude is so cute.