Temper Temper Temper

All I have to say is wow. We started noticing a bit of a temper in Tia several weeks back.  It is very hard not to laugh at times because it is so stinkin cute, BUT the fact that she gets so mad is not something we want to see already.  She has some toys that she tries to move around and if they don't move the way she wants them to, she'll grunt and throw the toy. Of course, we get a stern voice and say no, and she gives us that look as if she knows and just looks down.  This weekend, she went to grandmas for a couple days and when we picked her up, we visited my mom's house.  I let her crawl up the stairs and when I wouldn't let her do it anymore, she threw the biggest temper tantrum we have ever seen.  She sounded like a motor trying to start, arching her back and rocking too and fro, grabbing her face and clawing herself...I calmly set her down on the ground and let her do her thing.  She seemed to snap out of it...no tears...and then when we wouldn't take her to the stairs, she started the tantrum up again. I am NOT saying that it had anything to do with going to Grandmas because her temper has been escalating the past several weeks. Rather, I'm saying since we hadn't seen her in 48 hours, it was not the ideal mood we wanted to see her in. Of course, we left shortly after thinking maybe a nap would do her good, but when we got home...she was in rare form.  We looked up some forums of other parents to see what they have experienced and it was a bit comforting to know that many people have experienced the same thing. Not every baby goes through it, but several.  Chris and I are both discipline types and we want our goal to be to nip this in the bud before it almost gets out of hand.  Our technique that we are agreeing upon is to carry her to her crib, no eye contact, not say a word, put her in, close the door, and let her calm herself down.  We have heard that this tactic has been the most successful for the majority of parents. If you give in, it makes it worse and can affect them as adults as well.  Soooo, we'll see how it goes.  I talked to daycare about it and they have never seen Tia have a temper tantrum. The only thing they have seen is a grunt when someone takes a toy away from her, so at least they had forewarning and I told them our tactic and I think that is what they'll use as well.  It is VERY hard not to laugh because it is cute, but for her good, we have to stay strong and be consistent in our approach.