Two and a half and the terrible two's have hit, and I do not like it at all!  

My little one is so independent he constantly runs off, lol. I put him on a leash. You can buy baby harnesses. Better safe than sorry, especially since I have two older ones to deal with, too. He is finally getting the message that if he behaves his mommy isn't in such a bad mood and he may even get a treat. Positive reinforcement of good behavior helps a bit.

My middle one was a climber and managed to unbuckle herself from the shopping cart seat restraint. I had to constantly check,if she still was buckled. She still managed to fall out once. Then I stopped putting her in and she started climbing the cart trying to get in, but also climbed other stuff. I was frazzled by the time I left the store and dreaded having to go shopping.

Haha gemini, that's real funny.
I know it's not always funny for you though.
All i can say is if it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger, or so one would hope.
Been there, and glad that it's over.Out of my six children i'd have to give my last the trophy for being the most difficult two year old i've ever came across.
She was my little stripper, when she got angry she'd strip of her clothes with no regard for where we were.She also had a potty mouth, she had no qualms about firing of a barage of cuss words at the drop of a dime, which seemed to happen in the front of strangers more times than i'd like to recall.
But i think the worst, was when we visited the seniors home where my older kids adopted a elderly lady as their grammy{long story} Well to make a long story short, grammy reached over to give my daughter a hug, and the child pulled away and said "dont touch me your mouth smell bad" well needless to say i was embarassed beyond words.
Then it became clear to me just why i hated taking her anywhere.

At least yours has waited until after 2 for the terrible 2's to hit - my daughter started more around 18 months i reckon!
I have the tantrums & when you tell her 'NO' she will throw whatever she's holding, throw herself on to her hands & knees, then start banging her head on the floor.
If not, she'll just scream & run off or find something to throw if she isn't already holding something.
There's the swearing as well but i think she's picked that more up from her cousins & her Dad's side of the family, they kind of have pretty filthy mouths & don't think to be careful what they say around her - even while she's so easily corrupted!
This is my first child & who knows, the 2nd one might be different (we're having a boy this time around) so i guess we'll wait & see what happens but as i said, at least your little one was over 2 when her T-2's started! My little miss will be 2 years old in just 2 days so i've already had 6+ months of the terrible stuff & i'm slowly pulling my hair out.

I have two little boys and I thought they were bad! They're nothing compared to the problems you're having. I honestly don't know what to tell you. Each child is different and you need to find what works for her. I do have problems with the hand holding across the street. I have finally had to start carrying my son. He hates it! If he starts to throw a temper tantrum, we just leave wherever we are. Doesn't matter if it's a movie, the store, a friends house. I pick him up, we leave and go home. That works for us, but it may not work for you.

Good luck!!!!

None of my other kids ever had the terrible two's, because like you, I'm strict, and put a stop to it before it started. I have little patience and would never stand for a temper tantrum, and would NEVER give in.

But now... my 2 year old son is proving all that wrong. It is my own mistake because I have spoiled him a bit more than I did my other kids. I have given in to him when he cries. When he whines for a toy that another child has I make the older child hand it over. If he cries because he wants to go out, I bring him out.

I realize this is my own mistake, and he realizes that if he pushes far enough he'll get what he wants. He doesn't listen when I try to get his attention. He basically does what he pleases because he's always gotten away with it.

The sad part is, he's not quite 2 yet. He will be 2 later this month, so I'm sure it will only get worse before it gets better. But now that I've recognized what I've done, I'm trying to make little changes.

hahahaha. I remember my mom as you and me as your little baby when I was younger. Even if I am the eldest, mom said that I am the burden compare to my sister!LOL! I always cry and when I want to go out, I am not satisfied, I will keep on pointing out until we are very far already from the house, When I want to eat something while we were walking, I have to get it or else I will not talk to my mom for the day...LOL! I have a very patient mom and I never remember she hit me once with my bad attitude..LOL, I always hear her valuing and I do know, I just change when I was in High School, and become a very good daughter...LOL!

omg! I am going through the same thing. It is so bad. I want to run away sometimes when it gets really bad. If she doesn't get what she wants she does the same thing. She won't walk and then will sit down on the ground. Her tantrums are really the worst part. She is spoiled though and we are trying to de-spoil her. I dont know if that's possible though. She doesn't swear yet but I'm sure she will.

my eldest skipped over the terrible "two`s" and didnt turn demon spawn till she was a little over 3 years old. unfortunately.. it never subsided, and just got continuously worse as she grew older. shes now a little over 19, and hasnt changed much, and listing for you incidences would take 3 or 12 days to relay to you..

luckilly.. my other daughter.. had at most a 2-3 week period of tantrums.. where shed throw herself onto the floor.. assume "fit position" and cry and wail, kick and punch the carpet.. stop for a second to see if anyone was paying attention.. and then continue on. the "silent treatment" to her tantrums worked.. she hated being ignored.. and the tantrums stopped pretty quick.. and shes been a peach every day since, shes now a little over 8, and i never have a problem with her ever.

Our two year old son is definitely going through the terribler twos at the moment. He has such a temper and has this really loud piercing shriek which we are trying to get him out of. When we take him out we use toddler reins and if we are doing a lot of walking we put him in his stroller.We have found that most of the tantrums, screaming and bad behavior are to get a reaction so we try to stay as calm as possible and ignore him, but that can prove really difficult!

OH that all sounds so familiar! Can I let you in on a little secret sweety? She is a girl and she will be more spectacular at every stage than your other 3 put together - at least that is my experience so far! She is practising to be a woman and although she may grow to appear a little more co-operative she will always have that little brain of hers working on how to get her own way in all things! lol Is Daddy the softer option by any chance? She probably knows that she has him round her little finger and wanted to reinforce her power by making sure he knew he was adored! lol
Mine can still get Daddy to do whatever she wants when she wants! lol xxxx