Peyton turns 2!!

Ok, ok.  I feel like I have started the last several blog post with the preface that I am terrible for waiting so long to post about one of Peyton's milestone birthdays.  Well once again I am 2 1/2 months behind, but I'm here now and excited to share some news about what things Peyton is up to these days. 

One of my girlfriends once said to me (when I was pregnant I think) that being a parent just gets better and better as time goes on.  I remember feeling so incredibly in love with Peyton right when she was born and I wasn't sure how that feeling could get even better.  BUT, now that I have been at this parent thing for 2 years, I can say that my friends comment was hands down, absolutely true.  I find myself being just as excited for any new activity or milestone that Peyton does now like when she was just born.  Its so fun to sit back and watch them discover the world, doing things just like you or even more funny doing things completely opposite than you.  Having them look to you for help or advice NEVER gets old. 

At two, Peyton has turned completely into a little girl (versus a baby).  She is speaking in complete sentences, has an insanely large vocabulary, is hyper aware of all her surroundings, want to do EVERYTHING herself, has desires I remember having as a child, and is starting to problem solve.  She amazes me on a daily basis on what she is capable of.  She is the opposite of shy (unless she just woke up from a nap), and has a memory better than mine half the time. 

Clothes:
Anywhere from 2T-4T depending on the article and brand. 

Food:
Eating everything these days, but here favorites include green beans, tofu, pizza, yogurt, string cheese (she calls this scream cheese), oatmeal, and eggs. Oh and how could I possibly forget DIP, aka ketsup.   She's started to be able to eat things without us cutting everything into bite size pieces.  She can also feed herself completely with a spoon or fork (thanks auntie Katie for pushing us into this while we were in Peru-huge help!).  Her favorite snack remains to be Pirates Booty.  And...she got mommy and daddy's sweet tooth, loves candy (though this is reserved for treat only of course).

Potty Training:
Peyton began showing signs of potty training a few months before she turned 2.  We started putting he on the potty now and then, and she would go, but never ask for it.  We tried pull ups (didn't help the least bit, besides the convenience of pulling them up and down).  It finally clicked with her when we went cold turkey and kept her in big girl panties all day.  She had a couple of accidents the first few days, but since then she has been great.  No more diapers for us except nap time and overnight!!!  She was officially potty trained by 26 months. 

Sleeping:
I harldy feel the need to update about sleep anymore since its so great.  But, I know when we have more kids down the road it will be nice to look back and compare what they were doing at different stages.  Bedtime is still at 8:00 (7:30 if she has to get up early or if she is really tired).  If we let her sleep, she will go between 11-12 hours (7:00-8:00am), but on work days John has to wake her up by 6:45.  She is still taking 1 nap per day lasting from 1 1/2 hours-3 hours.  She goes down for her nap between 12:30-1pm. To this day, she has only gone without a nap 1 time EVER!!!  As you can probably gather, I am very strict on getting Peyton the sleep she needs.  That came from another thing I read either while pregnant or very early in her life that said for the first few years is very important for their brains and for development for the child to get consistent sleep at night and for nap time.

Talking:
Peyton speaks often in full sentences, or at least 3-5 word sentences.  If she doesn't know what something is, she almost always asks and then will almost always remember it the next time she sees it.  Of course, like any other 2 year old she has language sometimes that only John and I would understand, and even sometimes we can't decipher it, but for the most part she is pretty clear in her speaking.

Favorites:
Here is a miscellaneous list of lots of different things the Peyton enjoys:

• Home Alone (the movie)
• The Sandlot (movie)
• Little Rascals (movie)
• Strawberry Shortcake (cartoon), she calls this Strawberry Pancake
• Caillou (cartoon)
• Books (loves them still like she always has)
• Coloring (we think she is left handed, she draws the best swirls, always wants mommy and daddy to draw a "P")
• Riding her bike (she calls this her motorcycle most of the time)
• Saying her ABC's (she was able to do this at 22 months)
• Playing outside (ALL. THE. TIME.)
• Airplanes and Helicopters
• Snuggle (which is so nice because she hasn't been a snuggler up until the last couple of months)
• Pretend she's talking on the phone
• Run everywhere (including away from mom and dad)
• Play with the kitty
• crawling into her car seat and highchair all by herself
• singing songs at bedtime
• chapstick (she calls it "nice")
• Going through Nana's purse
• Looking for snails on the porch when it rains
• Afraid of Bee's and Fly's (or any bug that flies for that matter)
• Good at spotting spider webs

Health:

• deathly afraid of the doctor and dentist (its a battle every time)
• battling heat rash right now (comes and goes, especially bad when she wakes up or in hot car)
• SENSITIVE SKIN
• Prune juice helps with being backed up
• Got Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease in May (along with Daddy who had it 3 times worse than P)

Discipline:
We have implemented time-outs which we think seem to help.  She has a specific spot in the house where she has to go for time out, and then we always follow it up with a discussion of asking her why she was in time out, apologizing.  All that being said, she is definitely TWO these days and certainly acts it.  At times we struggle with her listening when we tell her no.  I hope that phase passes quickly!