What Was He Thinking?

It is very true that kids change by the day - and Katie is the perfect example. If I look back at posts I see that she has been the main one to struggle with stranger anxiety and clinginess. Well, we are having the opposite problem these days. We went to Waffle House Sunday morning (it looks like restaurants might be a no go for a while because Katie was awful, again). Katie was yelling "down," "down," because well, she wanted down. We walked around the place for a bit while Tyler and Lance got settled in and ordered for us - and convinced the waitress to bring some crackers to coerce Katie into her high chair. While we were walking around Katie was just telling random people "hi" and waving and an older gentleman came up to Katie and started talking to her and telling me what a beautiful little girl she was (kind of creepy). She was smiling and making faces and generally being cute and the man joked that she was his "girlfriend." All pretty harmless UNTIL he said to Katie - "do you want to go bye-bye?" Before I knew it she was in his arms and I was frightened beyond belief. I pretty much snatched her out of his arms and we sat down but it scared me that she was just so willing to be picked up by a perfect stranger, not to mention that a perfect stranger would suggests to a 1 1/2 year old that they go bye-bye! Another couple came up to us and commented on how different the two kids are - Tyler so quiet and Katie so outgoing - and it made me chuckle because while they are very different I have yet to find labels that fit them for too long! There have been times that Tyler is the one making eyes at all the patrons and "talking" to them when Katie is the one that refuses to make eye contact, so you never know.

I do have a bone to pick with any readers who know me well - why oh why did you not warn me about how hard these toddler times are??? I can't get them to listen and they are constantly testing their boundaries. We can't go in public without a meltdown (when we try to leave usually), andI feel like a referee constantly breaking up fights and squabbles or keeping them from hurting themselves by climbing on the table or opening the drawer of knives. Don't get me wrong, for the most part it is really fun, but nobody warned me that I would have about a month of "honeymoon" stage and then would start to feel like a chicken with my head cut off again - running in circles, not getting much of anything accomplished. I am really hoping that we can find something that works in terms of discipline - they are still too young for time-outs to work really (they think it is fun) and obviously admonishments and reasoning don't do the trick. I don't think I am being unreasonable in my expectations - they are actually allowed to do quite a bit - they just want to do more and usually something that is dangerous. The fascination with climbing the stairs continues and the "gate" is just not working. I probably need to teach them to go up and down them, in case they escape without me knowing it, but they also push each other out of the way in efforts to climb and that will never be safe! Katie has started going to the bottom step and telling herself to "sit down" which is fine, but Tyler will sit on the bottom step and say sit down and then when I turn my back he will climb two steps and then sit, and then just laugh and giggle because he is so proud of himself for thinking he is tricking me - the little minx.