Some Relief

Thanks so much for the comments. It really does help to know that my child's behavior is 'normal' and this is just something we have to live through--and pray to the universe it doesn't last long.
Yesterday we had one.....two.....three....four....five!!! tantrums. I couldn't believe it. I was not on the receiving end of them my babysitters were.  One time my babysitter took her outside because I was trying to get my boy to sleep. She was sooo fired up that she decided to roll underneath the car and not come out. Seriously.

BUT, just when I think it's just out of control she goes and does this: I was sitting in the chair and she walks over w/ outstretched arms and wants to sit in my lap.  Then when I came back from running errands she walks over to me and says "I missed you".  Within all that toddler angst, there is a charming sweet little girl in there.

And today, much much better.....no tantrums at all.  I tried to see if they were tied to sleep/eating, or what...and I can't find a pattern. We really enjoyed each other as I took them to the park to feed the ducks and play on the playground. Interesting social experiment the playground is.....I saw some scary parenting, lack of parenting, and some mean kids/ not very social ones.  I guess I am just used to my child wanting to talk to kids and become 'friends' for the time they are playing. This one little boy kept telling her 'hey girl, I don't want you following me'. I get it they are kids and I stay out of it unless someone's about to get hurt but where are all the friendly kids?
She continues to surprise me too by things she says.....tonight we put her jammies on and I've been putting them on backwards w/ the zipper in back because she continues to take them off. Well, to make sure she can breathe okay I cut a little triangle out of the collar. I had her come over and as I was cutting I started to say, "here...I need to cut this so it doesn't...." and I got distracted and she said "choke me". She totally finished my sentence. It just took be by surprise because that's exactly what I was going to say and she figured out why we were cutting it.

Something I also needed to mention that was a first is that my son actually stood while I was holding him. He actually used his muscles to try and stand rather than have his legs fold like frogs. So exciting.

Something I'm frustrated about is that I am so tired after our sleepless nights that it's hard to get energy to do all the 'fun' stuff I think we should be doing before I go back to work. I have such a prime opportunity to spend time w/ them and on many a mornings all I can think about is more sleep. More sleep.  Reading other blogs I've learned that being exhausted all the time is just part of being a mom to a 2 year old and baby. No amount of napping will make up for the interrupted sleep night after night.  But, today was a perfect example....my babysitter came in the morning so I could sleep a few hours. Then this afternoon I decided to take both of them somewhere (which is a process in and of itself) because I actually felt like I could manage........REST will do amazing things.

We are hanging in there and the reality of it is.....it is so very hard some days. But, those little moments of a snuggle, or a kiss...or a smile....that's what fills me up.