Having a Hard Time

Cheyenne and I are not getting along very well lately. Toddlerhood is so much harder than I expected. I knew it would be tough., but the ways things are going lately, I have to say I'm doubting myself and my parenting skills. Cheyenne was a spirited infant. She was quick to meltdown when she didn't get enough sleep and was hard to settle when she got overwhelmed. She sort of outgrew that around 10 months and up until a month or so ago things had been pretty good. She slept independently and went to sleep easily for both her naps and bedtime. She was a sweetheart to be around and was pretty easy going.

A month or so ago I started noticing changes in her. She gets bored very easily. Even if she has a new toy, within 5 minutes she moves on. I've tried rotating toys out so that she has different ones every couple weeks or so but it doesn't seem to be working. She has started hitting me. Not hard, mind you and sometimes she's "playing" but nonetheless, it's hitting. She is throwing toys. Just yesterday she threw a bell at little gym and hit another little girl in the head. Talk about feeling embarassed. I tried to use it as a good time to teach Cheyenne that it's not okay to throw and she hugged the little girl to say she was sorry. I know things like this are normal, but Chey is the only one like this in her class. The rest of the kids are easy going and will actually sit on their mom's lap! Mine does not sit still the entire 45 minutes. She runs around to all the other moms and kids and will pat their heads or run off and play by herself. I like that she's so independent but she's also all over the place! I'm having a hard time keeping up with her.

She throws her cup, plate and food down from her chair at meals... (again normal but annoying!) She has started tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Only 1 public one, so far...

The biggest issue we're having now is sleep. About 3 weeks ago, we started naps in her new room in her toddler bed. I never know how long she's going to sleep. Before she would sleep 2 hours. Now it's more like 1 hr and 15 minutes. Occasionally she has slept longer, but it's maybe once a week. This doesn't give me a lot of downtime, which makes keeping up with her alot harder. I have thought seriously about putting her back in her crib but wouldn't that just be a step backwards? I mean, I'm going to have to do this pretty soon anyway, and I thought that starting now would give us plenty of time to make the transition. Maybe too quick? I don't know. Honestly, I am expecting the worst. I expect this to continue and probably get worse after Hailey arrives. I guess I'm just in a down place right now. It took me over an hour to get Cheyenne to sleep tonight after being up for 6 hours after a 1 hour nap...that is just unheard of for her. Maybe I'm dealing with some separation anxiety too. We're supposed to leave her with my sister tomorrow night so we can go to dinner for William's birthday and I'm so afraid of what's going to happen. If she has this much trouble with me putting her to bed, what is she going to do with Katie? I guess I'm just stressed. I love Cheyenne so much. This age is just so frustrating and I feel like I can't do anything right.