Terrible... 3's?

I'm trying to decide at what point a parent has to stop blaming their child's age for their grumpiness. Sophie is usually a pretty even tempered kid (with a side of stubborn) but lately she's been pretty willfull. I'm not sure if it's just that she's had a lot going on lately, or she's not feeling well, but it's only been for the past week or so. Hopefully it passes. She's so well behaved that I'm not equipped to deal with her mood swings. My coworkers says that she and I fight like a married couple. That's probably true. Last weekend we were bickering back and forth all day. She kept telling me no, I wasn't having the attitude, she would break down and throw a fit, I would send her to time out.... Over and over and over. Finally that night we laid down in bed and she just started crying and said "I'm sorry I was bad. I love you." Of course I started crying because I felt guilty and had to apologize for losing my temper more than usual. Sadly, Sunday was a repeat of Saturday complete with the tearful apologies at bedtime.

I tried to keep us busy. It wasn't too hard because I worked last weekend so between trips to the daycare we also went to Buskerfest to see some street performers. That didn't pan out so well because everything was at street level and there were tons of people, but we did get to have some pretty good food with some awesome friends. Sunday we spent more time with those awesome friends at the zoo, but between Sophie's stubbornness and my best friend's twins testing their limits we had a handful going on.

Sophie and Brooke, who she decided is now her "cousin"

Aside from the grumpiness Sophie has been very cuddly and helpful lately. I have been having lower back spasms which are incredibly painful and sometimes leave me unable to do much. The other night when my back locked up at bedtime (they are at their worst when I first lay down) she was trying her best to roll my over so she could rub my back for me. It mostly resulted in her poking my sides but it really is the thought that counts. She's even been asking me how my back is periodically. That might not seem like a big deal but 3 year olds aren't exactly known for their empathy so I appreciate the thought.

Maybe she's grumpy because I've been forcing her to eat better lately. I did give her spinach and avocado in the same day, which is probably the healthiest she's eaten in her entire life. I guess to a carb lover that's pretty close to torture.