Temper! Temper!

I honestly have to say that Anna really only had a solid two weeks of the 'terrible twos'. However, as we head towards her third birthday, I am not sure if they have reared their ugly head or if Anna was just overtired from a week full of 4th of July excitement and a lack of regular bedtime hours and routines. On Thursday we hit the Bronx Zoo and between her insisting on walking the whole thing and her not taking a nap, we had a couple of minor episodes. Then on Friday, my grandmother came for a visit which involved more excitment and a later than usual nap. As the day progressed, the episodes of crying and raising her voice at us increased. Finally on Saturday, we had our biggest one yet where she had a huge meltdown when I told her she couldn't hold onto her crayon any longer because it was crumbling to pieces due to the heat and was leaving little pieces of wax particles everywhere. Everytime one got stepped on, it put a nice purple stain in her rug. Well, I'm sure the blood curdling scream could have been heard on the west coast as she yelled "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I stood in shock for a minute amazed she was capable of such a high pitched note. She was immediately put on the naughty chair and Ron and I discussed in private that bedtime must be set earlier for that evening because of course the child must be overtired! After a good night's sleep, our regular, happy girl returned. However I did have second thoughts about bringing her to church Sunday morning because I would have just died if her Sunday School teachers had to witness that behavior!