Terrible Twos... an understatement!

Right now, I feel as if Avery is sooooooooooo difficult. Only, I'm not so sure it's HER, but her age.

And I know everyone talks about "the terrible twos" (and three is even worse, God help me!), and this is nothing new... but I'm realizing why it's such an awkward age: there are SO many different issues at work here at the SAME TIME---sleep issues, sippy cup issues, potty-training issues, etc.---and they're all related.

For instance (and bear with me... you might get a headache just reading this!), bedtime is a huge battle with Avery right now. She sleeps in a toddler bed, so she's no longer confined to a crib. We used to "tuck her in" a million times in one night because she just wouldn't STAY PUT in her bed. So, I took some advice from my Mom friends and put a baby gate across her doorway at bedtime. Worked like a charm.

BUT, wait.

Now, I'm trying to potty train her. So, I can't leave the gate up all night... because what if she needs to wake up and go potty at 3am? Therefore, the gate comes down once she's fallen asleep. And because of THAT, when she wakes up every night at 3am (not necessarily because she has to potty, but just because!), she leaves her room and crawls into Mommy and Daddy's bed. Another issue.

Also, because she's potty training, we're trying to take her beloved nighttime sippy cup full o' juice away from her... because common sense tells us that a full sippy cup at bedtime will lead to wet underpants at some point in the middle of the night (when diapers were "okay," this wasn't a concern).

So, the baby gate is up, which upsets her enough. Now, we're taking away the sippy cup... another upsetting thing. And she's still able to leave her bed at 3am because of that potty issue, too. Oh, and just because we take the juice away, take the diapers away, and give her free reign of the house at night does NOT guarantee that this potty thing is going to work... so we have wet pants to change, too.

See what I mean??? It's a very tangled web... one that leaves me extremely tired every second of every day (yet I'm here, blogging about it at 1am, instead of sleeping!).

Here's the good news... or at least this is the thought that's going to keep me going for yet another day... I have seen one child through this stage already. He survived, and so did I. Therefore, I know that it can be done. And one day, I know I'll look back on this and smile, and wish I had that little chubby two year old who fought bedtime and peed in her pants back again.

Isn't life strange??

On that note... Sweet Dreams, Avery. I'll see you in a couple of hours for our 3am meeting... you bring the sippy cup and I'll bring the juice.