Terrible Twos??

Colbie has definitely pushed the limits recently and has been showing us a glimpse of the terrible twos you hear so much about.  About a month ago Colbie realized she didn't necessarily have to do what she was asked.  She started off politely refusing with "no thank you mommy" then tried to stall with "one more minute mommy."  Then it got worse and she was refusing to do simple tasks like get her diaper changed, enter the house when arriving home, or come upstairs when asked.  She has also become terrible at sharing.  At school they made her a sticker chart to be a "Good Friend."

This was all very sad and emotional for me.  I felt guilty.  I felt like I was doing something wrong.  Everyone told me "she's just being a two year old" but for me it was very hard to handle.  Although Jon was unconcerned we discussed some parenting techniques we thought might help and really stuck to it.  Whenever Colbie refuses to do a simple task, I count to three and if she still refuses I help/force her.  For more destructive behaviors such as dumping water all over the floor, milk all over the couch, coloring on the table, hitting (all things she did).  We would catch the behavior as quickly as possible, give one warning, then a time out.  The first few days involved LOTS of time outs, which were followed by Colbie crying for up to an hour.  It was emotionally and physically exhausting for both of us!  I may have cried more than her.

After only one week she improved greatly.  She is now doing so much better!  She often asks me to count for her and often places her babies in time out when they're not listening.  She is still terrible at sharing and we will continue to work on this.  But I am so proud of her and love her more than I can express.

I have thought very hard about what makes her minor acting out so emotional; for me and still I'm not real sure.  I guess it just made me realize that she may never be her teachers favorite student or the most popular girl at school, but it doesn't matter.  Because to me she is the greatest thing ever created and I will love her to pieces no matter what.

A few of the adorable things about this girl, which outweigh the difficult things by far:

-Shouts "welcome home daddy" as soon as Jon gets home and asks "how was your day?"
-Sits perfectly through any story or music time.
-Can recently get herself dressed in the morning with little help.
-Uses an open cup for all meals and is eating great!
-She sings made up songs in the car, which always make me smile.
-Every time we pass McDonald's she shouts "M for mommy" and whenever we hit up the Dollar Tree she shouts "D for Daddy."
-When she really wants something, she asks in a very high pitch voice and ends the sentence with "OK Mommy?"
-Her language amazes me every day.  A few of her recent comments:
"Daddy next time at school I'm going to have new teachers and a new room, but some kids will stay the same.  Charlotte, Indi, and Reese" 
"Mommy that's a kind of bird called Eagle."
"Cars go on the road, airplanes go way up high in the sky, boats go in the water."



Party dress for Finn and Nora's Birthday Party

Watching the squirrels

Happy Girl

Sweet face

Lots of teeth in her smile finally:)

Big girl with long hair

True Personality:)