The title says it all. But with sarcasm.
Although Alexandra still tends to be very well behaved most of the time there have been more instances where she won't listen. But actually as I think about those times it occurs at two different times of the day - nap time and bed time. Hmmmm do I see a pattern?? The kid thinks she is going to miss something if she sleeps!! What I have found though is that she is trying to make her own decisions and choices and realizes that she is able to do that. Perhaps it's my fault that I give her choices a lot. For example I will have her choose her Pj's, choose a bedtime snack, etc. Although with most things it is just two choices - choice A or B (which I pre-choose) but letting her choose makes her feel like she is actually making her own decision. But anyways she is becoming such a patterned girl when it comes to bedtime and nap time. About a half hour before her nap I let her watch a show on tv while giving her several warnings that this is the last show and that afterwards it's time for her nap. Of course every time though she starts whining but I hold my ground . She then has to turn off the tv. If I turn it off she will go turn it on just to turn it back off. Then it's upstairs we go and if she whines I tell her she can either walk like a big girl (like she wants to do) or I will carry her up and put her in her room. She doesn't usually just lay down anymore. She'll start playing with her stuffed animals and toys in her room. Well then I have to set a timer for me to leave otherwise she will want me to stay there a long time. If I say we are reading 1 book she wants 3. Oh these are the little things that I am trying to keep my patience on and not argue with a 2 year old. Well usually after she finally does lay down as soon as she lays down she says "I have to go pee pee". So we go to the bathroom. She does go which is good. After washing hands she wants to always turn off the light. No big deal - it's part of her pattern. And then she runs from her bathroom to her room and hides under the blanket. Honestly this happens every day. So then she says she has to go again and pops out of bed. The second time she doesn't have to go. It's just her way of trying to get out of bed. I always tell her that if she gets out of bed I will put the gate up (she HATES the gate up) so this usually works but not always.
Well anyways, putting her to bed which has been a 10 minute task has turned into 30 minutes plus it usually takes her time to wind down. The other day again she was fighting it so Chris came up and I told him to take over because I was getting very frustrated. She did the same thing to him - telling him she had to go to the bathroom - when she didn't because she just went for me. I told him the pattern she would do and she did it to the T. I would say "Next she's going to tell you she has to go, then she is going to ask to sleep in our bed, then she will ask to sleep on the couch with "no shows". So there she is, sitting on the potty, and I tell Chris this has been going on for the past two weeks with naps and it's getting very frustrating. Well we ended up putting her in her room with the gate up.............Chris stood by the door and the girl was screaming "I have to go pee pee, I have to go poopy" at the top of her lungs. We kept the gate up and wouldn't let her come out. She was cranky because she needed a nap and even though I have done the "just let her cry" method before it has been before she used the potty so now I worry that maybe she really DOES have to go. Well after about a half hour of crying she went to sleep - and slept an hour and a half - and woke up dry too. And when she came downstairs after her nap she was perfectly happy. I don't know why it was so hard for me to hear her crying like that. I mean I have done it before and that is how I got her to actually fall asleep on her own but knowing that there may be (a very very slim possibility) that she has to use the bathroom again I don't want her think that I am not letting her go.
But I suppose now if she does this again I know I can let her cry and she will be fine. She was just very angry that she had to nap. I don't think she is ready (nor am I ready!) to have her give up her nap just yet. Although I figure on the days she won't sleep I can have her just have "quiet time" in her room while I get some things done. But I really want her to just get over the whole 30 minute struggle at nap time because when the little boy gets here it could get tricky.
If she doesn't listen to me during the day I give her timeouts which she is good at understanding the limits I have set. Again it's all about picking and choosing what I am going to be strict about and what she will get a timeout for. I've also started telling her that when we are other places such as Nona's, Titi's, Nana's, etc that they have time out couches too and I'm not afraid to use them!!!
I keep telling myself that it's just a phase and she is trying to show her independence. Actually my Aunt Kim wrote something in an email that made me feel better. She wrote "The independent phase can be frustrating, especially when you are in a rush. But look at it this way, you have raised a child with the self-confidence to make her own decisions. That's a good thing. Keep up the good work" Thanks Aunt Kim - I never looked at it that way.
Actually when originally posting I intended for it to be an update to what Alex is saying and doing but after reading through I changed the title because it I found it was just me venting so thanks for listening!
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