December 1, 2008

Birthdays and the Terrible Twos

Dear Madness,

well, you're two now. Your birthday weekend went quite smoothly, to my utter shock, which wasn't easy because having two birthday parties on the one weekend was actually kind of nuts. Next year, I think I'll just fork out the cash and pay for a big party somewhere to save us a lot of fuss and bother.

Now that you're two, you're becoming more and more vocal about everything. In the last two weeks, you've added quite a few words to your vocab, including (YAY!) some English ones, like "Again" and "More!" which is excellent. Naturally, your temper tantrums have increased to two or three daily, but for every tantrum there are 100 funny things you do that make them worth while.

Also, you're BIG! I mean, you've always been big, but now you're the size of the average German three-year-old, which sends your father into fits of panic. Your projected height as an adult is 192cms or 6"2, which means you'll tower over both your parents by the time you start school.

Basically, you're just a whole lot of fun. Next week, I'm taking you over to Ireland for a visit. I hope you don't mind that Papa's not coming, and it's probably going to be rainy (okay, it will be rainy, it's Ireland) and cold.

Lots of love,
Mama

2 comments:

JoodyC said...

You are so fortunate to be able to "pop" over to Ireland and everywhere else. Your son is even more fortunate as he learns about different cultures and foods and people and scenery. Can you tell that I'm jealous?

Children usually start having tantrums when they have about a 100-200 word vocabulary. I don't know how that translates when your child is bilingual! What a challenge for all of you. The big problem for your child is having some words, but not enough words yet. The result can be a tantrum.

However, you might want to start a trigger list for times when it isn't just frustration. What was he doing? What time of day? What day of the week? What had he just eaten? Who was he with? Where was he? It may be that the carpet in Aunt Grace and Uncle George's home upsets his system (I'm sure it's not Aunt Grace and Uncle George), or if he's late getting to nap time.

Once you have a list of tantrum triggers you can help prevent them and life is a lot easier.

Judy Colbert
www.TuffTurtle.com/tantrums.htm

GHA said...

Hi Judy,

thanks so much for your input! The triggers (and your book) are something I'll definitely consider the next time a tantrum comes along. Currently, they mostly happen for the "normal" stuff, namely when play time at the park is over, or his favourite stack is out of stock in the kitchen.

I know that as he grows over the next year, the tantrums will get more intense and probably more frequent, so I'll definitely be keeping your comment in mind!