Terrible Two's

Ethan is exactly 2 months away from turning two but I think he has developed the wonderful habits of a two year old. We are at the stage where he is testing us on how much he can get away with. I love it when I tell him it is time to put something away or not to do something and he just ignores me by acting like he doesn't hear me, walks away and continues with the behavior. We have been using the time out technique, sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. I know it takes being consistent and it is partly my fault because I am a little more lenient being prego and all. I do know that he understands his actions because when we eat out he knows there is only one time out allowed. If the behavior continues, we have no problem taking our food to go and leaving. He understood that real quick. He gets super upset when we go home and he has to sit in his highchair instead of being at the restaurant. By using that technique, eating out doesn't feel like a chore anymore. I really hope we can overcome this stage. We just can't underestimate his willingness to get his way.

Besides the temper tantrums, Ethan has done really well in his new bed. After telling him 20 or so times to get back in bed at naptime, I thought he was going to never get it but it paid off and I only have to go in there maybe three times. He knows if we hear noises, we will check on him so he has become super sneaky. We can hear him running to get in his bed before we have a chance to open the door, little stinker! Instead of it taking him an hour before he would fall asleep we have gotten it down to 10-15 minutes. I don’t expect him to fall asleep in a minute but I know if he is out of that bed there is no chance of him ever going to sleep. Some people have suggested that when their kids switched to beds, naptime became quiet time. I have no problem with quiet time but Ethan is still at that place that if he doesn’t get a nap, he turns into a little gremlin. Thankfully, bed times have been great and there were only 2 nights where he woke up and walked into our room but once I walked him back to his room and told him it wasn't time to wake up yet, he feel back asleep. Here are a few pics that I promised of his new room.

If you notice at the above picture Ethan has that pencil in his left hand. Lately he has only been using that hand to write with. If we place it in his right hand he will try it out for a second then moves it to his left hand. I think we may have a lefty.