That's it really. I say 'terrible' because that's what he's been for around a week now. On the whole, he's gorgeous - happy, spirited, active, sociable, loving etc. But he's going through a phase that includes: getting easily frustrated; throwing things; throwing himself backwards onto the floor for the smallest of reasons; crying much more than usual; hitting; pushing; fiddling (with everything, all the time - seemingly in rotation while i follow him around switching off appliances etc); saying 'no' constantly - even when what you're asking him to do is 'nice' or 'enjoyable'; lying on top of the cats/ hitting them with small plastic dinosaurs and just laughing in response to our protests. Nothing we do or say gets through to him, however we do or say it - he just doesn't listen or even seem to care. All i've seemed to do this weekend is raise my voice with him, and that's just not like me as i'm very patient and don't think that shouting achieves the best outcome. Usually, i just ask him calmly not to bash the TV (for example), because it will break - and the next time he does it i will take said toy away. But he is testing my patience continually and i'm afraid i shouted a few times this weekend.
There has been no change in his routine. He is naturally a very spirited, inquisitive little boy and we've learned to embrace his, ahem, very active disposition while trying to give him some boundaries. But this latest phase makes all others prior to this pale into insignificance. We tell him regularly that we love him, and cuddle and kiss him regularly without bounds, we tell him what a good job he's doing when he's doing something well, we talk to him all the time (his speech is brilliant - lots of sentences, he's able to communicate his needs well and says 'please' without reminder on many occasions etc) and his level of understanding is closer to that of a 3 year old. I know he's now in the 'Terrible Twos' but please help me nip the shouting in the bud! It's so, so hard and i feel like such a failure and wonder if it's my fault because i work FT. My time with him is too short to spend it making him unhappy.