What a week!

Our week started off pretty rad. We went to a fun party on Monday night, Milt was born, then Tuesday we went to Terry & Morgan's house to release Milton & Piper *video coming soon* and we had dinner at Casa Bianca. Then Wednesday, Antz got sick and worked from home. Nothing spectacular happened but it was a weird day. Yesterday wasn't so awesome. I have been excited to go to the Oh Joy Kate Spade event at the Americana all week. Antz tells me we are going out to dinner with Les & Stephen and another couple from his job. Okay, that's disappointing but it will be fun. So we take Liv to her Grandma's house since it's a no kids dinner and go to the restaurant *which coincidentally is the same place we went to with Terry, Morgan & Kieran a few weeks ago* and guess what? We are the only ones there. Strange, Antz pulls out his phone to text Les and discovers a text from her saying dinner cancelled, from 3pm! Antz was kinda pissed that he missed that text and I cancelled my plans for the dinner but like I said, we had a rough day let's have dinner and pick up Liv. I've been feeling cranky about not having any plans to go out of town *obviously, Hawaii* for our anniversary and Antz has been sick and pretty exhausted lately. On top of that, we have a lovely 22 month old who is pretty much pushing her boundaries with us every moment she can. We are both pretty concerned about her behavior. We question if she is involved in enough activities, or possibly too much? While it's normal for 2 year old's to act-out, we think she is taking it too far. This is the part of being a parent that I never thought would happen. How do you discipline a baby? Are we ignoring her bad behavior too often. Have I damaged her by laughing at her antics *sorry, I can't help but giggle when she is being naughty* It feels like she is telling us "NO!" all the time *it breaks my heart when I ask her for a kiss and she says a defiant no* and throwing tantrums *particularly when we are out in public* throwing her toys, and hardly eating. We try to make meals that are interesting, healthy and tasty but lately Liv has put herself on a all strawberry diet. I can't get her interested in eating an entire meal. Could it be her appetite has changed now that I've stopped breastfeeding? As a parent, I was feeling pretty confident, and we had a great routine. Now I am feeling like I've lost the balance between "fun mommy" and "strict mommy". I find myself telling her stop, no and pleading with her in frustration. I don't want to be a parent with a passive-aggressive attitude. It sucks the most that she acts out more with me than Antz but we read that toddlers actout with the parent they spend more time with. Nothing grosses me out more than when Olivia is acting out or being extremely shy, like to the point where she is clinging to Anthony and will not look at anyone. She just started that with people she doesn't see that often but I know Liv isn't shy. She has a huge personality. She loves to talk, sing and dance. I want her to feel comfortable with everyone we know. This morning we are starting dance class again. I hope she behaves. She has an issue with sharing *this is one of the hardest struggle I have with her* I think she may understand now that she has to share the instruments with the other kids but when she sees the one conga drum, she wants it. I'm learning how to handle these situations, I just want Liv to be a happy, sweet and kind kid.

Happy Friday the 13th!!