Let the tantrums begin...

Yes, it's true. Our 18 month old has hit the temper tantrum stage of her development. At first I was a little worried that she was entering this stage a little early, but after talking with a few moms I have learned that 18 months seems to be a common age to begin these tantrums. Over the last week and a half Avery's fits have escalated and any time she does not get her way she loses it. Our little girl with such a sweet disposition can be quite strong willed. I'm learning to just ignore her when she throws herself on the floor screaming. When I ignore her or walk out of the room the fits don't seem to last long. Monday we were in the grocery store and she pitched a fit because she did not want to sit in the buggy with her cover on it.... She was flailing her arms and legs, arching her back and screaming all while I'm trying to stuff her into her seat in the shopping cart- with the cover on it! I was SOOO embarrassed!!! This was our first public melt down and I wanted to crawl into a hole. I was telling Chris about it later and he assured me that I shouldn't be embarrassed because most of the people in the store have been there, too. Still, I was humiliated. I'm really hoping that this is a short phase for her and that we can work through this before baby K arrives in 7 weeks!