Terrible 2 has arrived...

Karen might only be 17 month old but we are feeling the full effect of her Terrible 2. Gifted with a set of powerful lungs, the ability to scream in the highest pitch imaginable, the tantrums she can dish out are unbelievable. The first time she had a tantrum was approximately 2 month ago. She threw a fit because she didn’t want to go upstairs and kneel face down over on one of the floor mat, with her bums up high to cry. That first tantrum was seriously funny to see. She wasn’t trying very hard and would look up now and then to see if I’m paying attention. I continued to do my chores and ignored her. When she started to try harder, I decided to just leave her in the hall crying on the floor mat and go upstairs with my clean laundry.

Karen looked up only to find that no one was in the room with her, even the dogs had left her and followed me upstairs. She stopped crying to look around the house for us; I was observing from the stairs so I called out to her and told her we are all upstairs in the bedroom, she can join us when she’s ready. She crawled up the stairs and was caught by surprise to see me at the landing waiting for her, immediately she bended forward and buried her face on the stairs to continue her tantrum. That, was a priceless moment. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I picked her up because the stairs is a dangerous place for tantrum throwing but once she was safe in the bedroom, I continued to ignore her until she gave up. That first tantrum didn’t last long but I couldn’t say the same for the tantrums she can throw now.

Karen still doesn’t or couldn’t express herself vocally but she could understand us perfectly. While I know that speech is something that every kid develops in their own time, being unable to express her needs or wants makes it more likely for her to be caught in frustration. We had a whole series of outburst during this Christmas season and it was made worst by her teething (I spotted 4 new teeth!!), persistent fever and allergy (cause by a new medication for the fever), all happening at the same time. The poor kiddo was spotted in red, with a swollen face from the allergy and swollen gums. Luckily she is probably too young to remember her 2nd Christmas and this will just be a small phase in her life to come.

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/