Terrible Two in a Tutu

Yes, we have definitely arrived... Avery had an epic meltdown this morning, and we knew she was tired because she had woken up too early. So Josh tried to rock her and put her down for a little nap around 9:00 am.  Our plan was flawless; she could get some extra shut-eye and be happy and fresh for dance class.

Nope.

She hit him as he tried to settle her down. He scolded her and told her that it is not okay to hit. So she pinched him (hard). So he put her in her bed and walked out.  Of course she cried, but we figured she was tired enough that she would cry it out for a few minutes and then get over it and crash out.

Nope.

We made it almost 30 minutes before I went and rescued a sobbing and snot-faced Avery from the corner of her crib.  I like listening to her cry about as much as I like listening to rakes made of knives being dragged across sheet metal.

I decided to bring her to Target with me around 10:30, just to get her out of the house. She enjoys riding in the cart and looking at the displays.  And as usual, she was very good in the store, despite her earlier soap queen scene.  As we strolled through the produce section, I heard a dad behind me tell his two little ones, "Look at that cute little girl riding in the cart. Do you see how good she is? See? She doesn't cry."  I suppressed my immediate instinct to collapse on the floor in a fit of hysterical laughter, shouting "HA! You should have been at our house an hour ago!," and instead bit my tongue and beamed my best, "Why yes, thank you, of course I have a perfect child!" smile.

At 11:15 we buckled up for dance class. She took a short nap in the car and actually did surprisingly well for the first 20 minutes of class. She stayed in the center of the room with the girls and was even mimicking some of Miss Kristen's moves. 

Somewhere around the halfway mark, her two year old behavior reared its ugly head. She refused Miss Kristen's attempts to help her or hold her hand for circle time, spent a sizeable amount of time pouting in the corner, and tried to strip off her clothes. 

I tried to ignore her and just let her be when she was acting out. At one point I looked over at her from across the room and saw her throw her "prop" (a beanbag) on the floor. Another little girl picked it up and ran off with it, and I made no effort to stop her. I figured if Avery wants to act like that, then she will have to deal with the consequences.  But I did have to muffle my laughter/horror when I saw Avery react with clenched fists and a red face, growling, "AVERY'S TURN!" 

Nope.