Going on Two

Ryan is officially a toddler. Yes, he's 21 months and has been walking for about a year, but it's official now. He can say, "No!" and "Mine!" and he's not afraid to use them. This morning we had a meltdown of Wesley proportions.

Ryan did just fine getting up and going potty, but when it was time to get dressed, all heck broke loose. I got his shorts on just fine, but when Ryan saw the dinosaur shirt I wanted to put on him he shook his head and said no. I would have been OK with that, but then he grabbed the shirt out of my hands, crumpled it up and threw it on the floor, screaming "NO!" I didn't want to fight him so I reached into the closet for a different shirt. It didn't matter what shirt I took out of the closet, Ryan would scream and cry "No! No!"

I finally got the original shirt on him and carried him (screaming) downstairs. Despite his protests and tears I managed to get his teeth brushed and hair combed. Then I went about offering him first breakfast. I got out yogurt puffs, dehydrated fruit and raisins for him to choose from. He pointed to the yogurt puffs and I started to open the package. "NO!! NO!!!" Ryan started screaming. So I put the puffs down and started to open the fruit instead. "NO!!! NO!!!" So I put that down and reached for the raisins, only to get the same reaction. That little song and dance lasted about 5 minutes before I just gave up -which did not make Ryan any happier.

He finally settled down enough to have some raisins, so I went and got his sandals to put on. Mount St. Ryan erupted once more. "No booties! NO BOOTIES!" Ryan calls anything that goes on his feet "booties." So I fought him to get his shoes on.

By this time it was time to get Wesley up and ready for the day. Luckily Wesley didn't give me any grief about getting ready, because Ryan was still sniveling - which turned into screaming when we put on his jacket "NO JACKET!!!"

Needless to say, I was very happy to drop him off at his grandparents today. When I got there, I told them that Ryan had been a little beast all morning. The result, more tears and Ryan screaming, "NO BEAST!" UGH! By the time I got to work at 8:30 I felt like I'd already put in a full day's work.

Unfortunately things weren't much better when I picked the boys up this evening. I could hear Ryan screaming before I even opened their front door . Apparently the day went fine, but he erupted when he got up from his nap. Nothing and no one could calm him. We tried to give him some juice, but he threw the cup in between screams. He asked for his Bobo, but threw that across the room too.

Thank goodness he seems in a good mood now. Here's hoping it lasts.