Acting a Fool!

I was just in the bedroom playing with Val on the floor. She stood up and walked over to my side, put her hand on my shoulder and said "it's ok Mommy," and then leaned in and gave me a huge hug and a  kiss...and then another kiss and an even bigger hug. My heart melted. This is one of the many "bits" she does that gets me to smile ear to ear and be thankful that I have such an amazing child.

She made up a knock knock joke that she loves to tell everyone she meets:

Val: Knock, knock, who dare?
Me: Who's there?
Val: Donut
Me: Donut, who?
Val: Donut Chicken!!!

It kills every time.

You can't see it but her shirt says
T is for Trouble.

She is loving, she is funny, she is fearless and just perfect...90% of the time.

With M, who will be 5 in December, we were lucky to never experience the terrible twos. She was honestly a little angel. Sure there was some 'tude here and there, but never a big fit. Those actually didn't come until the mid-4s (so fairly recently). With Val, it is a whole different ballgame. This kid is already giving me a run for my money and she just turned two in August.

We recently began experiencing major fits in public places. Last weekend we were at a museum and she actually laid down in the middle of a crowded area and screamed bloody murder while flailing her legs and arms around. My husband and I, who are new to this type of behavior, couldn't help but laugh and look at each other like, "should we pick her up? Should we let her work it out? Did a demon possess our child in the play kitchen area?" Ultimately I grabbed her by the waist, trying to avoid getting punched or kicked and removed her to a different location and calmed her down.

This morning she was totally content running errands with me, until we got to the fabric store. I don't know what set her off but as soon as we entered the fabric store she started in with "No! I want Daddy! I want to go see Daddy at work!" She refused to move from the entrance area, so I once again had to pick her up by the waist and carry her screaming with me through the store - this time though she was giving me what I call the "stiff body" and tensing her whole body. I ended up just planting her down a few feet away from me while she kept screaming "I can't! No! I can't!" and tried to listen to the overly sweet woman explain to me how I figure out which fabrics can be used as napkins for M's school. I still do not know which fabrics are suitable as five minutes into the store I had to once again pick up 'Ole Stiff Body McGee and carry her out of the store, where she immediately calmed down.

At home we are dealing with things like hitting her sister, or hitting the pooch. Val likes to steal whatever M is playing with, then play nice and offer the toy to M and say "here you go M!" only to run away with said toy in her hand at the last minute, while cackling her little evil laugh. I'm not going to lie, this I think is hysterical.

Val is also a runner. By runner I mean that she likes to bolt whenever you put her down. She will run away from me at grocery stores (I actually have to use the safety straps on the cart), when we are walking the dog (I now put her in the Ergo on my back to stop this) and her latest favorite place to run away from me is the parking garage in our building. She about gave me a heart attack last night when we returned home and I got her out of the seat, went to lock the car (she usually stands there and helps me lock the car) and out of the corner of my eye I see her running away from the car. I scream her name but of course this just makes her laugh and run faster. This kid!!!

It used to be that being tired or hungry set her off, but now it seems to be anything and everything can flip her switch and make her "act a fool," as I like to say. This behavior even further solidifies our decision to only have two kids. Serenity now!!!