Encroaching Terrible Two's

Can I get some ominous theme music, perhaps from Jaws or something equally as terrifying?



You know, I actually haven't even contemplated Eli reaching such a phase as the tantrum throwing, hitting, whining, screaming, etc. that he seems to be in right now. At first I thought it was just a bit of sleep deprivation from our trip, then I thought it might be his plethora of teeth making hamburger meat of his gums. Then I did a little math in my head and had a sick, sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. My sweet little man is almost two and is probably entering the terrible two stage of life.

Well, that was a bit of a blow to the solar plexus for me. What with all my meticulous planning, I never thought about the consequences of having a 2 year old and a brand new baby. Yes, well, I have been making up for lost contemplation time aided by real-time toddler outbursts to give poignant visual aids to my imagination of what might happen when we have a fragile little infant in the line of fire of projectile cars, goldfish, shoes, etc. As a consequence, I am freaking out and stressed out. My tolerance for these fits is probably at a lower level than it would be if I were not pregnant and it is making it incredibly difficult to deal with in a calm and loving manner--especially the hitting. As a general rule--NEVER HIT YOUR MOTHER! Especially when she is feeling very pregnant and testy anyway!!! I just feel so unprepared for this part of childhood.

I don't think that it helps much that there are a couple of kids in his nursery class that are hitters and toy-takers. Eli's behaviors are markedly worse after church on Sundays. He never used to have a problem sharing toys and was always so sweet and mild-mannered. It makes me so sad to watch these changes in him. I just keep praying that he will be good with his little brother!

Another un-fun habit Eli has redeveloped is waking several times throughout the night. This is a particularly unsavory habit especially since sleep is getting to be a scarce commodity for me. It has been taking me forever to fall asleep and when I finally do, I am wakened by a screaming toddler. After I finally convince him to go back to sleep, it takes me an hour (sometimes more) to fall back to sleep. Then my sleep is plagued by seriously disturbing psycho pregnant dreams that leave me exhausted and feeling really icky for the entire next day and make me afraid to try and sleep again the next night.

To add to the fun, in a few months we are going to add another little person who's sleeping habits will probably be just as sporadic. I frequently question my logic in having two little ones so close together. Too late to take it back now. I just hope that all of this doesn't leave me confined to a padded cell somewhere...