[mondk]

I have quite the story to tell about 16.5 month Joshie. He likes our landline phone; it is cordless and has huge buttons on it...he likes to push the buttons and listen to the sound they make. He has nearly every toy phone known to man and a couple of our old cell phones to play with but wants our landline phone. We usually swap him the landline for some other favorite toy. Well tonight, he got a hold of the landline phone and it rang (someone was calling) so I pretty much snatched it away from him and he gave me a "look", snatched it right back from me and shouted "MINE!" I looked at dh and we both said "did he say "mine"? at the same time. Well, that is a new one!

Then last night after his bath he was squirming around and I was having a terrible time getting his PJ's on him and he looked right at me and said "Want Daddy!"

I'm dumbfounded. I can't blame it on daycare because he doesn't go to daycare. I kinda wish he'd have said "Want mama" but oh well.

He has also started banging his head on things when he is mad...could he be entering the "terrible 2's" already? If so, I have a feeling we are really in for it!

Blessings, Michelle

[Stormster]

Michelle you MUST read this book: The Emotional Life of the Toddler. It explains what is going on in their heads! What a great book!

E also has every toy known to man but it's almost a joke....cool new Elmo phone? No way. Gotta be one of our Blackberries. Awesome new Dirt Devil Junior (Toy) uh uh! He wants the REAL dust buster ....nothing makes that boy happier than playing with remotes. We have an extra we don't use (identical to our cable remote) I had to take out the batteries and I pretend i'm using it. If he hasn't stolen it from me it doesn't mean anything!

Whenever I see (or buy) anything that's a big fake plastic version of anything: phone, car keys etc....I wonder if anyone elses kids fall for it?

If we take one of the grown up household objects out of his hand he does this thing where he arches his back as if to throw himself back (catches himself somehow at the last minute) and starts whining or crying. He's been doing this from about a year or so.

Believe it or not, if I ask him to HAND it to me he does sometimes do that, otherwise he just freaks out!

In the book it says that everything in the toddler is EXTREME. EXTREME joy and excitement over a new object or activity.....so when you take it away it feels like the end of the world to them! I think it helps to know as a parent how devastating it FEELS to THEM when we take something away from them (esp. really quickly) to help us deal with the perceived "Trauma" of it!

[Fran27]

I haven't bought 'the happiest toddler on the block yet' but it's on my shopping list when the babies turn 1... Apparently it says the 'terrible twos' is the second year of their life, so between 1 and 2...

[Stormster]

Fran I hope both your children aren't as active as E. I don't think twin toddlers are going to be easy!

[loveajax]

dd's started at about 18 months ....and 2 years later, we are in the throes of the "terrifying 3s!" enjoy the ride!!!

[greenrobin]

I believe the terrible twos start whenever a child wants them to!

Thrombotic threes are even more fun.

Just consider your child gifted since he started early!

[cetalley]

When does the terrible two's start.....after yesterday, at the age of 61, my darling groom proved that! Hang in there you got a long ways to go.....

[aclee]

I think the terrible 2's start at 3. Clearly whoever named them the terrible two's had never had a 3 year old.

[Saya]

Michelle, I also recommend the book Storm mentioned, "the Emotional Life of the Toddler," or as we call it in our house "the Toddler Bible." It was THE most useful book for helping us understand what the heck was going on in our daughter's head.

And for us, the "terrible twos" started just about the time she turned 1. Actually I think 2 has been a bit easier then 1.

And Storm, yeah Anabel NEVER falls for the stupid looking plastic stuff. She'll just look at us scornfully and go back to playing with the blender. . .

[nikkianni]

Terrible twos start as soon as they learn to control their world. I swear.
DD started doing the head banging thing when she's upset about two months ago. She doesn't do it a lot because she's realized it hurts and that's no fun.
She hasn't started saying "mine" yet, but I'm sure it's coming. She has told her daddy "no no" and told me "no way."
And in the last few days she's started pinching when mad. (Yippee)
So hang in there because I think Joshie's terrible twos have begun.

[4everwaiting]

Another question.... When do the terrible twos end??? My nephew just turned 3 Nov 15th and he is a terror at times and other times a total angel... One minute a meltdown including lying in the floor kicking and crying real tears, the next minute giving kisses to everyone.

So, how long do we have to look forward to the tantrums???

S

[GoddessDanu]

In my experience (I've cared for over 20 children), the terrible two's generally start from 12 months and can last until a child is 3 years old. I really believe that it stems from an inability to communicate. The kids can understand what we say but we can't understand what they say. The results: major tantrums and melt downs. Your child will grow out of it. Just be patient.

[mondk]

Okay, since I'm an avid reader, both of those books mentioned are going on my amazon.com wishlist! Brad is also starting up the pre-teen whatevers...so I'm really getting it!

I read the post about reading your kids' text messages and went through Brad's and some horoscope place has been texting him trying to get him to call them so they can tell him about his "love life". So we had a talk about texting; it went really well though and dh is going to put the block on his phone for me.

Thanks everyone who responded...I'm heading to amazon right now! For those books!

Blessings, Michelle

[my someone]

Originally Posted by aclee

I think the terrible 2's start at 3. Clearly whoever named them the terrible two's had never had a 3 year old.

HA!

Glad you said it, Aclee, and I didn't. I really didn't want to be the one to make Michelle faint!

Yes, it's true: in my experience, 3s are worse than 2s. And since my youngest turned 3 yesterday, I have a long year ahead of me!

That being said, I also think 3 year old boys are the cutest thing in creation....despite their quest to turn their mama's hair grey.

[KatiesEd-dad]

If you've got to ask the question, then you're already there.

Sorry, Michelle. Hated to break it to you that way. On a positive note, at least it's not the horrible three's.