Terrible Twos + Naptime in Condo = DISASTER

Just a moment ago, I was cuddling with my non-two-year-old (thankfully, my beautiful baby is only four months old). We were reading Time for Bed by Mem Fox in preparation for his morning nap, as we do every morning. He was just starting to yawn, comfortably sucking on his blankie, when a horrible noise interrupted our serene moment. It went something like this:

BANG! BANG! BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
(indescernable shouting by a very small person)
(indescernable but definitely very frustrated and angry shouting by a larger person)
(indescernable but defiant shouting by same small person)
BANG! BANGBANG!
thudthudthudthudthudthud (that could only be small person running)
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD (large person running)
SLAM!!!!

Thankfully, Bradley seemed fairly oblivious to what was happening in the condo beneath us, but for me the situation was both entertaining and terrifying.

To set the scene a little for you, Bradley has, as of yet, been a star baby. He sleeps well, he (now) feeds well, is in the 50th percentile for pretty much everything, and only cries when his situation is absolutely dire (diaper soiled beyond recognition, crowds screaming at a sporting event, being made to "make nice" when completely random people try to hold him for a minute...you know, typical scared-baby situations). He goes down for his nap without so much as a peep most of the time. We do have times here and there where he decides to change his schedule slightly, but then we adjust and move on.

What on earth will I do when he decides napping isn't for him? Is he going to scream at me and bang the crap out of his bedroom door? Will he scream and run away from me, slamming things as he goes? Will he have tantrums? Will my child be the one at Safeway, kicking and screaming on the floor? Will people look at him, then look at me with their judgemental looks, shaking their heads and self-righteously sniffing in my direction?

A good friend of mine whose child is just coming out of that wonderful stage told me that she used to look at other people with their two-year-olds and think, That will never be my child. However, she said, once you're in the situation for yourself, you realize pretty quickly that a two-year-old does what he/she wants, no matter what you do about it. You just need to let the stage run its course, and eventually, you will have your cuddly, loving child back.

Great.

So for now, I will cuddle my son, savour his naptimes, and elicit as many giggles and smiles out of him as I can. I have no idea what the Terrible Twos holds for us, but I will just enjoy this moment for as long as I can.

And for the people with the Little Terror living downstairs? Hang in there. As my mom always said, this too shall pass. I just hope that in the meantime, he doesn't wake the baby.