Iliya got 12 uninterrupted hours of sleep last night...which means that I got 9 hours of (other than having dreams) uninterrupted sleep. It was glorious...fabulous...wonderful. I'm hoping that the same will happen tonight. Not holding my breath, but hoping nonetheless.

One day, I'll return to the fun-filled, exciting posts that I used to write, but for now, I have to vent. Just quickly, because I'm going to try to hit the sack soon...to make the most of the sleeping hours.

There are two things about my little guy that bug me to no end. I think this is a PMS post, so take it for what it's worth...which is probably not a lot.

First, if decides he wants something & wants it fairly bad, he repeats himself over...and over...and over. For instance, if he is all done with a meal, he is all done, and he means it. He means it so much that he tells us constantly - almost in a whining tone of voice, "all done. all done. all done. all done." And it gets progressively whinier, and our explanations that mommy & daddy are not done eating yet fall on deaf ears. He only cares about being all done and wanting to get down. There are times that we are able to distract him - but not always.

The thing about this is that we really want him to learn to sit patiently while others finish their meal. Now, before you say anything, let me say that we know he is only 2, and we know that 2 year olds can't sit for terribly long. But we don't want to create the habit of him eating and getting straight up from the table. Call us old fashioned, but being able to sit at the table after eating (in order to visit or whatever) without having to get right up is important to us. (and I'm not talking about long amounts of time, here. It's usually only minutes between the time that he is done & we are done - and he has got to learn to be patient for mere minutes. I think he can do it, but so far, doesn't want to).

Any ideas? Up until now, everytime he says "all done," we tell him it is fine that he is all done. And then we explain that everyone is not done eating... And that he will be able to get down in just a few minutes. We are consistent about all of this. But it just isn't working

So tonight, we decided that- when he says he is "all done," we will do the explaining bit one time, and after that, ignore his whining (oh, how much easier said than done). Short of getting a timer and setting it for x amount of time - I just don't know what to do. And ignoring him may not be the best thing to do. But at the same time, what we ARE doing doesn't seem to work. And the whining makes me short tempered.

His (the best way to describe it) urgency isn't only related to getting down from the table. It can be whenever he's ready to do something. Have a drink, eat, go outside, get in the car and go, whatever. If he is feeling an urgency, then he develops a one-track mind and does pretty much what I described above, and nothing we can say will calm him down. (if the 'urgency' isn't there, then this isn't an issue. it's mostly when he just. really. wants. to do something)

Again, I ask...ideas??

Second thing that bugs me - being Dr. McGrabby. This child will not keep his hands off of anything. I know, I know! He is TWO, he is exploring. But he is also QUICK, he literally snatches things up. Sometimes, it is things that he can have, but a lot of the time, it is things he doesn't need to have. Things that could hurt him. Things that could break. He doesn't always go for the "okay" things.

If there is a choice between a perfectly fun toy and opening & jamming the DVD player with whatever DVD that happens to be sitting in the player...guess which one he'll choose. The majority of the time, it's the DVD player. If he has a choice between playing with his cousin or ripping a nightlight out of the socket...guess which one he will choose. He did tonight! Ripped that nightlight right out of the wall. If there is a choice between almost anything in the house & the computer...the computer it is.

Oh, I could go on & on. And it makes me tired! Where is that post I wrote not long ago on saying "no" and how to redirect?? It really does work, but I tell you, it leaves a girl tired!

What I need to do. I need to embrace the fact that I have (Nathan, this one is for you) an inquisitive child. And I need to really get down on his level and show him how things work. The hard part is that he is "only" 2, and his attention span is fairly short, so when I do try to explore something with him, he is off & running to something else.

Yeah, it's exhausting. I guess I just need to take my own advice. And maybe have some other parents of 2 year olds tell me they are going through the same thing(s) with their children. I need to know I'm not the only exhausted, sometimes-exasperated mother out there.

Because if I am all alone in this...looney bin, here I come.