Rapidly reaching the end of my rope

I am not sure if it is teething, his cold, general toddlerhood, or a combination of the three (my vote is for the last one), but Eli has been MUCH more disagreeable than usual lately. I seriously can not do anything to please this child. The answer to anything is "no", or more specifically a violent head shake. So I try to ask all of the "right" questions, meaning one of two things: 1) Not asking a question at all (as in "we are going to go change your diaper now"), which generally results in a tantrum, or 2) giving him a choice where "no" is not an option (as in "would you like to change your diaper on the changing table or the floor"). In this case I normally get an answer, he changes his mind several times, and then whatever we finally do causes, you guessed it, a tantrum. Even if I ask an open ended question (as in "what do you want for lunch") he still throws a fit when I give him EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED.

Oh and he is sooo picky. I have no idea where he gets this trait. Today he had a waffle for breakfast, because that is the ONLY food there is for breakfast. Anything else might cause his head to explode. I used to tear it up, but now he wants it whole. So today I gave him his whole waffle, which was apparently still too hot because he put his head in both his hands like he does when something is too hot. I went over a tore off a piece to test it for temperature. BIG mistake. HUGE! Who would have thought that something so small could cause a meltdown in the kitchen.

Hopefully this is just a phase that will disappear in a few weeks and not return until Eli is a teenager.

Why are you laughing?