And the Saga Continues...

I've been noticing ever since Maddie turned 12 months old that her attitude gets a little stronger with each passing month.  Well, the 15 month attitude has come a few days early!  She threw her first true fit on Sunday when her popsicle was gone (she had a popsicle because she had another fat lip from falling on the tile).  Yesterday she was just really testy with me in every aspect.  She tells me "no" every time I ask her a question...she "grunts" (that's the best word I can think of to describe it...you other moms know what I'm talking about) when she wants something, mostly when she's done eating and is ready to get out of her highchair.  She knows how to say "all done" but she'd rather grunt and squirm and twist around in the highchair to let me know.  I don't know the best way to respond.  I know you aren't supposed to give them attention when this is the way they're demanding your attention.  But if I don't give her the words to say, how will she learn the right way to tell me what she wants?  So when she lets me know in her "ugly" way that she wants to get down, I ask her if she's "all done".  She nods so I tell her "tell Mommy 'all done'".  Then she smiles, raises up her hands and says "aa dee".  Simply, right?  Ok, the way I just wrote it makes it seem like no big deal, but it's exhausting...
Today we went outside while I was grilling dinner.  I still had water in her kiddie pool from yesterday but I didn't want her to swim.  Surprisingly, she was ok with that...I gave her sidewalk chalk instead.  She was happy to "color" while I grilled!  When dinner was ready I asked her to clean up the chalk...which she did!  I told her "thank you for listening to Mommy" and told her what a big girl she was for cleaning up.  I put the lid on the chalk container and handed it to her to carry in (thinking she would love the responsibility of getting to carry it).  I walked in the back door then held my hand out to help her walk through the door.  She pulled her hand away from me, screamed, and sat down on the patio.  Wow!  I didn't say a word.  I closed the door (but didn't latch it...afterall, there's still a pool of water out there!).  I put the food down and went back to check on her.  She was standing so I told her it was time to come in to eat (usually food is a good motivator for this little one) and held my hand out to help her in again.  Same thing...I took the chalk from her without saying a word and closed the door again.  This time I watched her from the kitchen window for about a minute and she just sat on the patio doing nothing.  I guess she just wanted to be outside...but I was hungry and the mosquitoes were eating me outside so we weren't going to sit out there for dinner.  I went out to get her and I didn't give her a choice, I picked her up and said "it's time to come inside. Mommy made supper."  She was kicking and screaming the whole time I brought her in and brought her to the sink to wash her hands.  Once the water started hitting her hands she got happy (this kid SERIOUSLY loves water!) and then we were able to eat dinner.
Whew!!!  How exhausting is she going to get?!?!  I know it's just going to get worse and worse and I have to stand my ground and not let her get away with this behavior.  I'm trying my hardest, but sometimes I struggle with what's the best way to do it.  I guess these are normal things every parent struggles with so I'm not alone, although sometimes it does feel so lonely!  I just keep telling myself Eric will be home in about 5 1/2 weeks and I can get a break :)  We'll see...