YES OR NO?!

For the last few days, our sweet little explosion of a two-year-old has been doing something really fun.  Really.  Fun.

Baby Brother is getting pretty verbal now and is making his needs known more and more each day.  But there is still something we are missing in his cute little approximations of words.

Here's yesterdays example:

I bring a small snack in the car for the boys to eat on the way home.  It's really a reward bribe for them to get swiftly in their car seats and not run the 20 yards toward a very busy street (yes, that happens often enough to require alternate motivation).  But, as any germophobe mom knows, the children must sanitize their visibly dirty preschool playground hands prior to consuming said snack.  We've done this 100 times with no issue.  They simply present their hands for a pump of Purell and race each other rubbing their hands to see whose will dry faster.  

But yesterday, Baby Brother refused to sanitize.  So no snack.  He screamed for the "soap".  When I presented it again, he screamed "NO!" and turned his head.  PB offered his hands with no problem and in return received a rice cake (yes, my weirdo kids love these).  Baby Brother screamed again for the "soap" and again refused it when offered.  So I stopped offering.  But he didn't stop screaming for "soap" or "rice cake" the entire drive home.  

Once we were home, I offered Baby Brother a cup of milk (his nectar) and snuggled with him for a few minutes before preparing our "Daddy Works Late Tonight Dinner" of cereal and/or bagel and fruit.  He was happy.  Fine.  "Cereal, mommy".  So I made him a bowl of cereal of his choice and, as I approach his highchair with it, he starts screaming "NO!" and swatting at the bowl.  God forbid I set the bowl down...I'd soon be wearing raisin bran.

I set the bowl on the counter to prepare PB's bagel while this small child contorted his body and hollered at supersonic levels.  He once more asked for the cereal and again, emphatically refused and swatted at the bowl.  When the bagel was ready, I offered him half.  What was I thinking?  He yelled at me as though the suggestion of a bagel with cream cheese was the most offensive thing I could have done during this moment of such intense distress.

PB and I sat and ate our dinner.  Quietly.  My normally all-over-the-place PB just sat there eating.  Only once exclaiming, "his screaming hurts my ears" and then returning to his bowl.  

The Hub and I decided over the weekend that we would not give in to these 2-year old demands.  He will be offered something twice and then we're done.  So that's what happened.  After the second refusal and a few more moments of his loud protestations, I got him down from the high chair and laid him on the couch.  He screamed and kicked and cried there for a few more minutes and then.......he was fine.  But he went to bed with nothing but 4oz of milk in his belly.  

He woke up again about 10pm kind of just whining in bed.  I brought a cup of drinkable yogurt,  which he happily chugged, and then climbed back in bed, sleeping until 6:45 this morning.  

While I am glad to see that just not giving any power to this power struggle actually works....

YES OR NO?!