Entering the terrible two's phase

Is there really a terrible two's phase? Must every child in the world go through that phase? Sometimes I refused to accept it that it exist. But the reality is my child is already two years old. So whether she is in the terrible two's phase, I'll let you be the judge.

Some people say that your child will be more demanding and misbehave more when you're expecting a second child. I'm not sure whether this holds true or not. But I can't remember exactly when it started, lil' dahling never fail to get up every single night and make my hours of sleep lesser and lesser. And this is not even with the second baby around yet. I don't dare to imagine if the second baby arrives. Will I get just a wink? Every night is nearly the same thing. Yesterday, she sobbed softly with intervals in between and without moving. Usually, I just stay still as a log but feel like smacking my husband when he starts moving a little. Lil' dahling will start sobbing louder once she hears movement. So, I still let her be until finally she started calling me. Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? That's the cue for me to pick her up already from her cot. I tried negotiating with her in the wee hours of morning to let her dad pick her up instead of me since I'm pregnant now. But nope, I'm not a good negotiator it seems. It's as if her dad's hands has disease or something. She wouldn't let him touch her except me. Husband also gives up easily because he hates being disturbed from his sleep. Heloooo...who doesn't? So poor me had to pick her up. I felt the baby in me kicked me one time as I picked her up as if to say LOSER! Then it would be a different battle everyday. Either she would fall asleep at once or go on and on talking or show tantrum or demand for milk. I couldn't help laughing the other day, when she closed her eyes shut but only opened her mouth to ask for milk. She didn't get any respond from me but I was actually staring at her. She slowly opened her eyes to look at me but realized I was watching, she quickly shut her eyes and continued her acting. So I gave her milk in the end because she wouldn't stop saying those four letter words. (MILK, what were you thinking? :P) Anyway, yesterday she woke up twice! The second time was at about 5a.m. Her talking woke me up. Sounded so chirpy some more. I wouldn't sound that chirpy if I woke up twice in the wee hours of morning. She even called me up and asked me to 'sayang' her. This continued until my alarm clock rang at 5.55a.m. I went to brush my teeth and she followed me. Not long after, she informed me that she wants to do her 'business'. Lah..no wonder she woke up early.

Everyday I would be the one to pick her up from the nanny's house and nearly everyday after we've reached home, she would picked one dvd from her collection of dvds and asked me to play it for her. Usually, I would allow it because it gives me some 'me' time. She will sometimes pull me to the refrigerator and ask for ahkult (Yakult) or sheesh (cheese). Her latest craze now is drawing with her latest set of colour pencils. She'll asked for her colour pencils and paper. This latest activity doesn't really give me 'me' time because she wants you to sit beside her and draw together with her too.

Has anyone tried the time-out method? I've tried it twice. Of course I felt guilty afterwards but I didn't show it. I did the first time-out when I was in Malacca for CNY. We were suppose to take our afternoon nap but Eliza didn't went to sleep at once. She was talking, singing and banging on the headboard for about an hour. I told her to go to sleep many times until my volume got louder. When I couldn't take it anymore, I suddenly resort to the time-out method. I carried her into the toilet and locked her inside for about 45 seconds. She was wailing and banging the door the whole time. Once being released, we are not suppose to comfort our child. So I just kept my cool and explained to her why I did it. I don't know whether it went through her brain or not but she co-operated with me and really went to sleep. After that incident, I used the word "time-out" as a sort of threat to get her to co-operate.

But of course the time-out method doesn't work for long. Just when it started to "lose its appeal" I used it again like a refresher course for Eliza. LOL. She was not co-operative for many days. I had to practically beg her to come and get herself cleaned up for bedtime. It was so tiring that finally I decided to do the time-out method again. I did the same thing again and earned her co-operation once again. I told her to say sorry and she said it obediently still sobbing. I was worried she would be traumatized but this method has been used by many. Still I don't hope to use it the third time.

Going out is also a challenge. She might not want to be in her stroller all the time. Sometimes we don't even bring the stroller along. Kids will be kids. So when she sees something that catches her eye, it won't be easy to remove her from that spot. I've tried many ways of persuasion and even end up shouting. My husband even had to carry a kicking and screaming girl away from her spot. Then I discovered something which still seem to work. Which I hope will work forever. LOL. The magic words. I just say "other things". Like "come let's go see other things" or "we are going to see other things". She'll follow at once like magic! My husband couldn't get it right the first few attempts. You see, he didn't say those magic words. Once he started using it, it worked. So mothers out there, maybe you can try this next time. Wouldn't guarantee it'll work for your kid. But you can try it all the same.

Eliza was recently down with flu. So I took her to the doctors. My sister in-law accompanied me because my husband couldn't be back on time. The clinic closes at 9.30p.m. Anyway, Eliza refused to enter the clinic. Had to drag her in. She wasn't like this before. When the nurse called her name, she started crying on the top of her lungs. My sister in-law volunteered to carry her in. But she kicked and screamed. We were actually called into the waiting room so because of the commotion she had to ask us to wait outside and she'll call us in the doctor's room later. Her crying didn't stop until we enter the doctor's room. I couldn't even hear what the doctor was saying. After a quick check on Eliza with her struggling on my lap, he chased her out with my sister in-law. LOL. I finally could have a quiet time with the doctor. He said Eliza must've been extra rebellious today because her aunt was around. In other words, he said she's a lousy aunt for spoiling Eliza. LOL. I agreed because she wasn't like this before at the clinic. I hope she won't repeat this again because it's truly embarrassing with all the stares from the other parents. And you know what? While we were waiting for Eliza's medicine, another baby was crying in the doctor's room but wasn't as loud as Eliza and Eliza had the cheek to say, "Baby, ku ku" ( ku means cry in mandarin). Yeah right, you cried even worst, Eliza.

So terrible two's phase or not, as far as I hope the phase will soon be over, she is still my precious daughter. It can be a funny experience when you look back and laugh over it. Moms have to take it as a challenge and accept it. But if it is not too much to ask, can I please have my sweet angel back? :)