Terrible 2's???

Now let me start off by saying, Liam has never been a difficult child. From the day he was born, he never cried, never whined, slept wonderfully, ate anything you put in front of him, he wasn't the kind of baby that always needed to be held . In fact he's always been quite independent, very content playing on his own, doing his own thing by himself...

With that being said, I expect him to behave certain ways, to do or not do certain things. Things like not throwing tantrums, doing what he's told, realizing he can't always get what he wants, etc. Typical things you try to teach your child at a young age like that. Some may say at 22 months old, that is a little young to expect anything from your child, but I beg to differ. I know my child; I know his temperament, I know his attitude (and boy is there a lot of that lately), and I know how he behaves (normally). The thing is, Liam has known these things and what is expected of him for quite some time, and is fully capable of doing these things.

Now don't get me wrong, he's still a good kid, and I've definitely seen worse at his age. So if this is "The Terrible 2's" it is probably not a vicious as what other people might be going through. It's just really his attitude that gets me sometimes. The constant "NO!" (His new favorite word) His yelling and whining when he doesn't get his way. (Which is actually kind of funny because you can't understand a single word he says. I'm pretty he's fluent in Japanese, lol) And just not listening. All of this bothers me mostly because I know he's fully capable of behaving the way I expect him to. Keep in mind this isn't like an all day every day thing. He just gets in these moods a few times a day. I swear it's like he's bipolar too, one minute he will be laughing, playing, having a good time, and the next he's pissed and yelling at you.

So here are my questions to everyone...

Is it normal for a child to behave perfectly and do what's expected of them from the age of 12-20 months, then all of a sudden not?
Are these mood swings normal?
Is this "The Terrible 2's?"
Or is the the worst yet to come?

Oh Vacation...

I love taking vacation. It always makes me so sad to come home at the end of our trips. It's hard not seeing my family on a regular basis, but such is the military life. This year we took a trip to Arkansas to see my grandparents, who have never seen Liam. My sister, mom, and step dad drove down from Illinois too. We spent eight days there then went to Florida to see my dad and step mom, who haven't seen Liam since he was 2 months old. Rather than go into great detail about each leg of our trip, I will just post pictures and caption them with what was going on. I think that will be easier and more to the point and then no one has to read a long winded description from me, lol...

ARKANSAS

Liam attacking everyone with the hose

Liam and Grandpa Don

Great Mary and Liam watching cartoons

My little water baby

Me, Liam buried in the sand, and Aunt Rachel

Grandma, Mom, Me and Rachel after stomping grapes

Liam on the scale at the children's museum

FLORIDA

Grandpa Tony and Liam cleaning the boat

Liam and Grandpa driving the boat

Liam on the beach at night

Me and Liam at the beach

Liam sleeping with his Lily girl

Liam and Dad in the pool

Greg and my Dad went to the Red Sox/Rays game

Grandpa and Liam swimming at the beach

The family at the Sunken Gardens

Liam and Dad

~Liam and Me at the Gardens~

Liam on a bridge at the Gardens

Kisses on the beach, how romantic

Grandpa, Liam , and Dad feeding the pelicans