Leighton :: Two Years Old

Age: TWO YEARS OLD

Stats: She has her two-year well check on Monday so we'll see for sure then. I'm guessing she's still in the 80-90 percentile like she's always been. She seems TALL compared to other kiddos her age.

Clothes: Lots of 3T stuff and hand-me-downs from big sister.

Fave Foods: She's become less of an eater. I'd say up until she was about 18 months old, she'd inhale all the food on her plate. Lately, though, she's more prone to take a few bites at each meal and call it good. Gracyn is the same way. I've been trying to watch how many snacks they get in the afternoon. I'll admit I'm not always diligent because witching hour can become pretty brutal so I'm often throwing food their way to keep them happy. Kinda ruins the whole dinner thing but we manage.

Fave Toys: She wants to be where big sister is; doing the things big sister is doing. I'm STILL waiting for them to learn to play together instead of fighting. They seem to fight a lot. Which is slightly terrifying. I'm hoping as Leighton gets older and is able to communicate/understand more this will get better.

Words: Her vocabulary finally exploded within the last 3 months or so! She has the best raspy voice and I love hearing her talk. She's even using 3+ word phrases and using her manners. She can be very demanding and will definitely try to tell you what she wants. Or what she doesn't want. Her fave is constantly asking, "what's dat, mommy?" or "what's dis, mom?!" Nine times out of 10 we get a "thank you, mommy" and "thank you daddy" after helping her and she's a pro at telling Rufus off. We hear "Roof! Stop!" several times a day. This last weekend she said, "I want more juice, please." clear as day.

Miss Leighton Lynn can be quite the handful - she's been keeping us on our toes from day one. Her personality is big and we've found things that worked with Gracyn don't necessarily have the same effect on this girl. Time-out is virtually worthless; the other day I put her in time-out for hitting Gracyn and she promptly stood up, yelled "NO!" and literally started dancing. Like, full on getting down. Almost like she was celebrating her time-out status.

Leighton-badger don't care. And I had to look away so I didn't laugh.

On the flip side, as fast as she can be naughty, she can be so kind and adorable. Maybe we need to start calling her Sour Patch. First she's sour, then she's sweet? She'll exit her time-out slash dance party and apologize to Gracyn and give hugs and kisses. They really do love each other but, man alive do they bicker! I suppose that's sister life for you, though.

Leighton is still a pretty terrible sleeper based on how I feel a typical 2-year old should be sleeping. She wakes up at LEAST once a night crying out for me. She can self-soothe but just chooses to ignore that life skill. We created a bad habit last summer while we were living in our apartment and the girls were sharing a room. I'd go into her if she cried hoping to avoid Gracyn waking up and she quickly realized she enjoyed rocking with mom in the middle of the night. We may have to do a little sleep-training if things don't turn around here soon. Some nights are better than others, but at 2 she should be sleeping all night long. Once she's actually asleep, she's known to sleep in until 9 or 10am, which is great! She still takes a decent afternoon nap; she may even lay down in the mornings after we drop Gracyn off at school depending on how much sleep she got the night before.

She still uses a pacifier. I remember begging her to take a pacifier from 4-6 months old so my boobs could have a break so joke's on me, I guess. She lovingly calls it a "tee-tee" and I'm convinced she'll be 11 years old before she gives it up. I have no plans to get rid of it at this point, either, which is probably making every pediatrician and dentist cringe but that little thing makes her so happy. We do try to limit the "tee-tee" to naps and bedtime.

Oh sweet girl, we love you big time. You are wild and funny and loud. You're smart and sweet. Gracyn loves you even when you steal her spot on the couch or drink from her cup. I swear you do it just to get a rise out of her. Daddy and I are so lucky to be your parents, you light up our world.

Happy 2nd Birthday, baby!

I started doing these birthday interviews when Gracyn turned two. She was talking a little more than Leighton is at this point but I still wanted to ask L the questions!