3 Months away from 3 years old!!!!

We can hardly believe our baby girl will be THREE YEARS old in just 3 months!!! Three months from yesterday, to be exact. And yesterday, we were soooooo ready to be done with the Terrible 2s. Yeah, Taylor was being a perfectly terrible two year old yesterday. We put her in time out I don't know how many times. Why? you ask. Let's see...I think one time was for hitting the dog. At least 2 times were for hitting me. And the others were for not listening to us and not doing as she was told. She has such a mind of her own. That will be a wonderful thing when she is older, but as of right now, when she's 2 1/2, her independence is down-right dangerous.

We ended the day cuddling in the rocking chair which is often my favorite time of day. Bedtime is often a struggle but by the time she's nestled in my lap in the rocking chair, with soothing music, we both relax and I reflect on what a sweet soul she has and how much I love my baby girl. I often look at her growing body in amazement. Even with her curled up on my lap, her feet reach down to my mid-thighs. I think about how big my belly was when she was in the womb, and then how tiny and fragile she was as a newborn. It really is miraculous.

So, last night, as we sat snuggling in the rocking chair after a long day of battles, my thoughts drifted to how lucky I am to be her mother and how much I cherish her. I thought to myself that I need to be more patient with her when we get stuck in a battle of wills. After all, she is my sweet baby girl. And, then, suddlenly these sweet thoughts wer abruptly interrupted by a small hand hitting me across my face! "THAT'S IT!" I told her. I stood up, completely frustrated and beyond the end of my rope. I put her in her crib, gave her her blanket and left the room telling her once again "You DO NOT hit Mommy!".

I left her room in a huff and sat with John, forcing myself to breathe deeply. The child sobbed and cried on and off for the next hour and a half. John went into her a few times and I went in two times. She was crying because she wanted to cuddle with me. We told her each time that we do not hit and that I was not going to cuddle with her because she had hit me. This is not the first time she has hit me during our cuddle sessions.

Today is going much better. When She woke up this morning, we greeted her and told her today is a new day. I told her she would be put in time out every time she refused to listen or hit me. I told her if we had to put her in time out more than once we would take away her babies. GASP! Yeah, that got her attention. Anyone who knows her well, knows how much she adores her babies. She plays with her babies ALL day long. We considered taking the babies away yesterday, but I think it would be more of a punishment for us, because she stays so busy playing with them. But, ultimately, she seriously needs to change her behavior and if time outs are not effective then we need to revert to taking away what matters in order to make an impact.

So far, she has been an angel compared to yesterday. I only put her in time out once this morning, she impulsively hit me in response to being told no. I promptly put her in time out - mostly to show I was serious. When her time out was done, I reminded her I would take her babies away if I had to give her a time out again. No more time outs since then, and she's been very pleasant!

So we're ready for her to be done with the 2 yr old phase, but I have friends who tell me that 3 year olds are just two year olds with more practice, so I'm not sure that things will be much better...