HELP!

I need help. The last two nights/days/and mornings have been pretty rough with Noah. If you read the blog from yesterday, he went to bed at 9:30 (after a large battle) and woke up at 6 and would not fall back asleep. Mind you, normal bedtime is between 8-8:30pm and he generally wakes up somewhere around 7ish. 8 hours is not enough for a less than one year old is it? He didn't eat a lot of his lunch or dinner. He fought me on naptime during the day (again...refer to live blog). Last night, we had a great time going to help our friend Becky celebrate her birthday. Noah got to play with River. However, by the time we left, it was almost 9pm and we still ensued a battle when we got home. This morning...he woke up at 5:45am and would not go back to sleep. Seriously folks...I need help. First, he is (and has been) in his big boy bed for months...so as much as I would love to revert back to "caging" him in his crib, I can't. Second, 8 hours of sleep can't be the right amount for a kid his age. Third, the eating issue is bothering me...although I am working really hard to not give him sweets that could have an effect on both his diet and his sleeping patterns...He just plays with his food or throws it at the dog.

I am at my wits end. I am sure that we are both tired of winter and need spring to come (NOW!). I've tried keeping him busy through the day, but that doesn't always help. Is this what they mean by terrible twos? If so, there HAS to be some way to counter it so that parents don't go crazy too...right???

On another note...I am looking for a gate that can extend atleast 5-6 feet for our kitchen. It might not even work since we have a funky shaped divider. Noah keeps "playing" in the kitchen. He pulls chairs up to the counter and "cooks" or plays with spoons. Somedays I am OK with this as long as its not dangerous. However, the last two days (notice the pattern of the last two days) he has pulled a knife out of the knife block (that i have pushed as far back as possible) and has fiddled with the stove burners...2 big fat no-no's for this household. Unfortunately, the kitchen is a huge draw for him since he feels that he is a "big" boy. Do I continue to let him "explore" and just watch him very carefully? Or do I kick him out of the kitchen completely?

Clearly, I am not feeling like super mom right now. Noah's instruction manual got lost in our move here, so if you have some really great ideas or just some support I would appreciate either!