I�ve been putting off posting today because I�ve been so surly. AJ burst out in his full two-year-old glory today and I have never felt more like strangling him. Actually, I still didn�t feel very much like strangling him, but the feeling was definitely closer than it has been.

AJ�s rules for behavior for the day seemed to be:

1. Why speak when you can whine?

2. If someone asks you to do something, do the exact opposite.

3. If someone asks you to stop doing something, say ok and then do it anyway.

4. If you can inflict personal injury and make it look like an accident, then go for it, dude!

5. If a parent asks you what you want to do, pick the thing with the most possible small pieces and elaborate setup. As soon as the parent has got everything together, decide you want to do something else.

6. If your parents are standing on the edge of insanity, give them a firm push.

The low point was probably when AJ threw a softball-sized ball of Play-doh at my eye from about two feet away. It hurt like hell and totally terrified AJ. If I don�t have a black eye tomorrow, I�ll be damned lucky.

I hate it when I get grumpy at him for being two. It�s really not fair. But it�s also incredibly hard behavior to live with. When we were reading stories before bed tonight, I tried to make amends. I pulled him into my lap and we had the following conversation:

Harriet: I�m really sorry I was so grumpy with you today. Sometimes the things you do make me really angry, but I still love you even when I�m angry. I�m sure some of the things I do make you angry too.

AJ: Yeah. I�m sorry too.

H: We both had a bad day, but tomorrow we�ll have a better one.

AJ: Yeah. I�m sorry I threw Play-Doh.

H: I know you didn�t mean to do it.

AJ: Yeah. But it hurt.

H: Yes it hurt, but I�m okay now.

AJ: We�ll have fun tomorrow.

It may not sound like much, but it was the most �adult� conversation we�ve ever had. It makes me wonder how much is going on in his head that we don�t hear about because he hasn�t figured out the vocabulary.

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