Earplugs...the perfect treatment for the Terrible Two's

So Bryce is going through his Terrible Two's six months early. He's always gone through the difficult things early or for a long time (or shall I say, I've gone through the difficult things early). He was teething at 10 weeks old, reflux-y for a long 15 months, and now he's a terrible two-er at 18 months old. Is this the red-hair in him or is he just so excited to grow up he wants to skip ahead to the next stage? The funny thing is, he isn't that early on the good things...he's a early on talking, but he's been right on schedule for everything else that's good and exciting.

So, this week has been especially Two-ey. He's thrown absolute fits EVERY night this week. I mean, screaming, throwing himself on the floor, out-of-control fits. To use my favorite college Kim-ism, he was SWOOC - So WAY out of control! We tried time-out, but it didn't always work. He wouldn't eat, play, nothing. They really come out of nowhere - he has quite the red-headed temper! (All I ask, God, is please give me a break from redheads...let my next child be a calm brunette or blonde PLEASE)

I've read to not get emotionally involved at all. Well that's hard to do when he's trying to rip my beautiful Korean artwork off the wall or I can't even enjoy a nice dinner with my husband. So our solution Thursday night...EARPLUGS! We put our trusty earplugs in and just ignored him in the other room (of course he's far away from any of my artwork). We actually enjoyed a nice, pleasant conversation!

On a positive note, we did have a breakthrough on Friday night. Instead of getting Bryce out of time-out after 5-10 minutes, in which he was still upset, I waited until he had really calmed himself down. In Friday's case, it took him 20-25 minutes of SCREAMING to calm down. But he did, and then he wanted to be held. The funny math equation there is, when he was in timeout for 5 minutes, he'd want to be held for 10 minutes, when it was 20 minutes, I had to hold him for 40 minutes! Funny I know, but I guess it helped remind him that he's still loved. But he was darling after that. He ate great, was so sweet, and has been sweet and fun ever since.

So I'm hoping that the blessing here is, that he's done being a terrible two-er in 6 months when I have another baby. Until then, we'll keep an extra set of earplugs downstairs, just for sanity insurance :)

Will I ever have my body back?

So I've been a mother for 18 months now (over 2 years if you include the pregnancy), and for the most part, it is one of the best things I have ever done. But one thing that seems to never go away, is the fact that my body is not my own anymore. If you're a man, you probably don't want to read this:

1) As a pregnant woman, I feel I have little control over my body. I've never been a "puker" (and God bless you souls who are), but I've had the nasty sinus infection for about a week (hence no blogging), and I throw up at least once a day due to all the mucus I have in my throat. I feel like each time I throw up, I'm losing more control. Like today, I puked on myself in the car driving 70 mph with NO warning. (TMI...stop reading!)
2) When I was nursing, I was a slave to my reflux child. There were so many things I couldn't eat that bothered him (the worst thing to give up...chocolate!) Plus there was that nasty diet for a year from the infection I contracted at the hospital (which is why I will never willfully have another baby in the hospital again : )
3) Finally, my pre-potty training toddler (we're reading and talking about it now) wants to poke his finger in the toilet (and other places) every time I pee or poop. TMI, well you should've stopped reading earlier if that's the case!
4) My boobs used to be so perky and the perfect size, and now they shrunk to almost-too-small-to-measure and lifeless. My only source of hope and comfort is to get pregnant again so the hormones give me a temporary boob job!
5) In the old days, I was a smart, creative, and spiritual business woman. That doesn't exist when I'm pregnant or nursing. I'm dummy-headed...absentminded, not able to intelligently finish a sentence, etc. My only reprieve this time was 5 months of sobriety (the 5 months between nursing Bryce and getting pregnant again). And I heard it gets worse with every child. Is this true?

So my question is...will I ever get my body back? Is this the true sacrifice of motherhood? Is this why older wealthy women spend inordinate amounts of money to fix what childbearing caused? I guess my husband should start saving now...it's going to be expensive.