Welcome to Tantrum City, population 3, where the weather is currently "defiant" with a chance of "hostile."

Christina Montoya Fiedler: I thought I had a few good months left before the terrible twos settled upon us, but I was dead wrong.

For the past month, our 17-month-old son has been giving us a run for our money and exerting his "power," so to speak -- testing us to our very limits. No, wait, more like laying down his tyrannical law upon us. I've never seen anyone so sure of what he wants. You'd think he was some sort of Wall Street tycoon or celebrated chef barking demands. You have a window of time before all hell breaks loose and the kicking, screaming, flailing begins.

Here are just a few ways to get him started: change his diaper, brush his teeth, suggest bedtime, look at him the wrong way, etc., etc., etc.

The solution to renaming Tantrum City to Peaceful Village is simple. Give in to his every want -- right? WRONG. I won't fall for it. It's tough now, but holding my ground as the parent will pay off in the long run.

I can see the frustration in his little eyes. His brain is working overtime these days, but he doesn't have the vocabulary to ask for what he wants or express his emotions. Instead, all that comes out is screaming. It has to be difficult, so, we are working on some magic words -- please, thank you, and some variations thereof.

Guess life lesson number one for this kid is, you can't always get what you want.

NOTE: The author was interrupted at least three times during the writing of this post due to a toddler pulling on her pants leg and pleading for more Cheerios.

Christina Montoya Fiedler resides in Los Angeles, CA, with husband Andy and her son Joseph. She juggles baby and work from home as a freelance publicist and attributes her strong love for life and sense of humor to her loving familia.