*Insert primal scream here*

Today I am having a pull-my-hair-out, bang-my-head-against-the-wall, frustrating day. Emmett seems to be at the peak of the "terrible twos" even though he hasn't even turned two yet. He has perfected his crib exiting skills, and has therefore been refusing to sleep. Last night it took almost an hour to get the boy, who normally falls asleep in 3 minutes, to bed. And today I am sleep deprived because every time he stirred last night, I laid awake listening for him to climb out. He woke up and climbed out at 6am (he normally sleeps until 9-ish) and when he saw my haggard face, I swear he did a little victory dance. At naptime today, I could tell he was exhausted - he could barely keep his eyes open and he was literally staggering around. But every time I put him in his crib, nearly asleep, he would instantly pop up to his feet and climb out, giggling and squealing. I spent a solid hour waiting in the hallway and then repeatedly, calmly, putting him back in the crib every time he climbed out, over and over and over. I tried rubbing his back. I tried laying on the floor beside the crib. Nothing worked. Finally I reached the end of my patience and gave up. Which of course just teaches him that if he's persistent, he will win. Great job, me. I've decided I MUST go get a baby gate for his doorway, so that he will at least be confined to his room and not be able to fall down the stairs and/or wander the house getting into mischief in the middle of the night. I won't be able to sleep until I can secure him. (Unfortunately there is no door on the bedroom, so I can't just shut him in.) I got the kids ready and we headed out... and he fell asleep partway to the store. I turned around and came home, and left him out there in the van (parked in the shade with all windows down of course), and he took about a 30 minute nap strapped in his seat. Whatever works, right? I keep reminding myself of the parenting mantra - This Too Shall Pass - but today feels like it's been about a month long already. Looking forward to this phase being done.

Edit: I forgot to mention that, on top of all that, my 5 year old is in this wonderful defiant/argumentative/mouthy phase and he's been in rare form today too. So I'm experiencing synchronized parental-limit-testing. Seriously, how on Earth do people have "quiverfuls" of kids? Cuz today I can barely handle 2!