The Terrible Twos, Too Early!

Our almost 18 month old is on the verge of entering the terrible twos - that is if he isn't already there.  The last few days have been filled with constant testing of the waters and pushing his boundaries.  While we understand this is in part to his natural development and his circumstances, we still can't help but want to have this phase over very soon.  Today was the breaking point for us.  The little guy felt the need to push every button for each of us.  He would do something he wasn't supposed to do (like throwing objects inside, hitting, kicking, screaming, pulling objects off of a higher shelf, etc.) and when we tried redirect his behavior he would instantly go back to whatever it was he wasn't supposed be doing.  When redirection failed, we tried explaining the behavior was not ok and why it wasn't acceptable (futile attempt for a toddler, but we tried anyways).  When we were met with hitting and him shaking his head "no", we followed with time outs.  Time outs for this little guy consist of him screaming at the top of his lungs.  He doesn't like time outs and is bound and determined to let everyone in ear shot know that.  When timeouts failed we attempted a mandatory nap.  Yep, you guessed it, nap time failed too.  Despite rubbing his eyes and yawning incessantly while protesting his nap, he was determined he was going to have it his way.  Trent and I both were at wits ends.  We knew it was a battle of the wills and were not going back down.  The culmination of will battles occurred at dinner.  Our very cranky toddler did not want to eat his dinner and preferred to throw the food on the floor so the dogs could eat it.  Nothing like trying to keep two dogs at bay, spoon feeding an infant, and trying to control a strong-willed toddler.  All I can say is I am glad the little guy went to bed for the night with out a fight!  Let's hope and pray that tomorrow is better than today.  =)