Rebellious Toddler??

I think we have a bit of a rebellious toddler on our hands with little Ryan. At least with Mommy anyways...funny though he appears to be a perfect angel a "delight" for Polina and for his grandparents. Yesterday we were guest at a play date and the little boy who is 2 1/2 kindly offered to share his toys with little Ryan (The menace...well Ryan insisted on throwing Bjorn's toy cars all over the living room and then decided it would be fun to rip apart the car track and throw the pieces of that as well. Poor Bjorn was so upset and did not understand why this little menace had taken over his home and all his toys. He was practically in tears and shouting at Ryan (in German) to stop throwing his toys around. Poor little Bjorn. Once again another victim to Ryan's path of destruction!

For example today he insisted on pulling all the clothes out of a cabinet I have in our room.....yes each article of clothing one by one until they were in a pile on the bedroom floor. He also threw all of his clothes that were neatly folded in a laundry basket...threw them on the floor too. Then pulled all the books off our bookcase, ripped the cord from the monitor out of the wall, threw Greg's alarm clock on the floor (all the while I was trying to get dressed and clean up the mess of clothes) Then we moved onto a path of destruction in the bathroom. As I was brushing my hair he pulled all the shampoo bottles down and managed to open one of them. I saw out of the corner of my eye he had something wet and was rubbing shampoo on his legs...uggg at least he was not dressed yet still in his jammies, thankfully but still a mess. Then on to his bedroom he ripped his alarm clock right out of the wall and threw the humidifier on the floor, climbed onto the ottoman and was standing in rocking in the chair rocking with an evil devilish smirk on his face all while I was tending to the mess in the bathroom and putting his clothes away. This all occurred before 8 AM. I was ready to pull my hair out! Some days he will play "nice" and other days like today he goes on a path of destruction! Our new battle is trying to keep Ryan from climbing on the couches and ottoman in the living room. He LOVES to do this and will kick and scream if we re direct him. This afternoon I picked him up off the couch b/c he was climbing and pulling after the table lamp (which was replaced he already broke one)He then started to kick his legs and then he threw himself on the floor kicking his legs and screaming! My oh my are we into tantrums already?

On another note Ryan has been testing the waters with meals as well. The little boy who used to inhale anything and everything I put on his tray has been taken over by a rebellious toddler who loves to bat the spoon away, spit food out, and throw food on the floor. Today was not too bad but once last week and once this week he went to bed without dinner. He absolutely refused the options I placed in front of him and frankly I was too tired to keep offering more options and cleaning up the mess on the floor. I figured if he is really hungry he will eat and if not he can wait until breakfast. I am not going to get in a game of making 5 different meals for him at one sitting just do not want to start that. Then he will learn to always get his way. He Today he ate 1 1/2 slices of whole grain cinnamon bread, a kiwi, some mango, banana, and a little scrambled eggs (usually eats 2 eggs maybe ate one today) for lunch he absolutely refused his yogurt and spinach/broccoli that he loves, instead ate some cheese, strawberries and blueberries a few Angie's cheddar bunnies. Then took a nap when he woke I knew he would be hungry b/c he did not really eat his lunch I offered an apple meatball (turkey meatball mixed with apple sauce and baked)an apple which he gobbled up, some leftover rice and peas which he refused. Just not a vegetable day today! Then for dinner he ate some homemade mac and cheese (whole wheat pasta, milk and cheese baked in the oven also freezes well) half a Dr. Prager's veggie burger but only after I drenched it in ketchup (who knew that toddlers like condiments as well) Like I said he usually is a great eater but not today. Funny though eats a ton for Polina and stuff he won't even touch for me, also eats better for my parents and for Greg than for me. Funny they must know they can test the waters more with mommy. My meal time game plan goes as follows...He most definitely always eats a super large breakfast sometimes two in fact, I try to get lots of veggies in at lunch, lately dinner is somewhat of a challenge so I know at least he was had 2 decent meals for the day if he refuses his dinner. I have read that children often become rebellious at this age and picky with food and that often times dinner is the least likely time to get them to eat. So I guess it helps just to know that this is a normal stage.

Finally the little menace is in bed and the house is quiet for the moment. I am only counting down the hours until he wakes in the AM. Thankfully our little helper is coming in the morning so I can run and do a few errands. I ask myself how do people do it with multiple toddlers at once? You all know how I LOVE Jon and Kate plus 8. Let's just say I do not know how she does it but then again that is why she is on TV. Does anyone else out there have a rebellious toddler on their hands? HELP!