Remind me, when is Katherine's birthday?

I thought it was NEXT Friday, February 22. But, from the way she has been acting this week I would guess that she has already turned 2. We have had a rough week so far and it is only Tuesday. I cannot count the number of times that she has had to be disciplined.

Sunday we went to lunch after church with my parents. She had a tantrum in the Boston Market. Nana commented that she had never seen Katherine act like that before.

Yesterday she was fingerpainting with her applesauce and would not obey mommy at all. We went to get her bath ready and she left the room. When I went to get her, she had dumped her cup of lemonade all over the floor of the kitchen. I think the problems yesterday began by only taking a 45 minute nap at MDO so she was put to bed at 7:30 (about 30min to an hour early).

Today she had a great start to the day, playing with her friend Hannah, a nap and then playing with Nana. But again at dinner we had problems. I think my mistake was letting her start her meal while I was still preparing mine. I hear "uh oh, mess" and she had dumped her peaches into her ravioli only half of them ended up on the table and then her lap. Urgh! I know that toddlers have a lot of accidents, but these are not accidental messes. Again she was in bed before 8.

Sometimes I am at a total loss on how to discipline Katherine. It seems that she gets it but yet it is not effective. She can tell I am upset and she says, "mommy, very sad". If I ask her why mommy is sad, she usually understands though she seems to get stuck on why I was sad on Sunday and repeats that over and over. When I ask her what will happen if she disobeys, she states the consequence. But, that does not mean that she decides to change her behavior. I know that this is a part of being a toddler. I just was hoping that the "terrible twos" would not arrive until she actually turned two.

Sam has been working late this week and it seems he keeps calling at these disaster times. Last night he could tell I was pretty frustrated - I was actually crying. He came home and brought me an early Valentine's present - tulips - my favorite flower. What a great hubby.

There are so many things about this age that are so fun. I love that Katherine can talk and say the cutest things. She knows that her birthday is coming up. Over and over she will say things like, "Birthday party, presents, two (holding out all 5 fingers), big bed, panties". She even is starting to learn to sing Happy Birthday.

This weekend we will be celebrating Sophia's first birthday. We will have to work hard so that Katherine is not confused about the purpose of the party and who the gifts are for.