Lexi is My Best Pal

Lexi: Mommy you're a queen. I'm a princess. 

Me: What about daddy?

Lexi: I don't know

Me: He's a King

Lexi: Oh

Lexi: Mommy is queen. I'm a princess.

Me: *using the bathroom*

Lexi: Good job, Mommy *thumbs up*

Me: Lexi, it's time to go to the grocery store (after a play date)
Lexi: You go to the store by yourself!

"Mommy, look at me! Take a picture!"

Me: Lexi is that other chair for little brother?

Lexi: The other chair mine. I have two chairs.

Me: But where is little brother going to sit?

Lexi: He sit in my chair

I mean I can just see her smile and hear her little voice and I don't ever want to lose it! ...along with all her sassy and funny faces.   Lexi is my best pal; we spend our days and nights together, so it only makes sense that she is always on my mind and who (between her and Mr Smith) my life revolves around.

You have heard us mention "tough" and to expound on that, we mean she has always had a ton of strength and sense of adventure / curiosity. Like most toddlers, she is active. And she won't sit still just because you asked her to (asking her to is a trigger) she.must.be.doing because life is a game. The thing I struggle the most to describe is her boundaries, which are wide. She likes to test the limits mostly because of pure excitement and independence. The struggle is that she will be obedient (for a toddler), but only when we fully explain things. She can also be scared into listening (realizing when we are really upset or if she is in danger), but that can backfire too. So she is reasonable and definitely wants us to be proud of her, and I see her empathetic side often, but then the tough side kicks in too, and most times back to back. The questions of how to consistently discipline her has come up in the last 6 months the most. She shuts down with verbal guilt. Time out from the situation has worked best with a calm conversation. Not always easy! Especially on repeat offenses.

She does really well with me when we are out. She can have her moments but a lot of people struggle with their kids and grocery shopping for instance, but Lexi will sit in the cart. She knows how she is supposed to behave when we go grocery shopping and we talk and pick out food and she loves it. If I let her down, I'd never find her. But we also don't stay in one place for more than an hour because she is a toddler with limits. However, she definitely has her defiant moments when I'm like "get in the house, the car" or "don't touch my face" where she can just be 2 and put up a fight even with a good argument. But I know impatience and frustration comes only when I'm lazy about the situation and either don't prepare for it // help talk her through it // make sure she is well fed or am not giving her the attention she wants. She recently started a little 2 second higher pitched scream that lets me know when she is really frustrated, aka doesn't get her way, followed by a waller/cry on the floor. Mostly due to one of the reasons above, but it also happens when she is tired // didn't get enough sleep // needs to just chill // I'm too lazy to distract her. Luckily, she is still easily distractible and moves on fairly quickly.

She is definitely assertive and an extrovert although we haven't gotten to the age where "playing together" is an understandable concept.  She will play alone at times (with her kitchen, trying on clothes, etc...), but she definitely prefers having someone around to interact with. And if I drop her off ANYWHERE -she doesn't look back. We get kisses often. We get hugs often. You can always make her happy with a good game of chase, hide & seek or tackle (most of which we save for dad). She loves books and tv shows. She loves when I get excited about something new to show her. She loves learning (which is why this age is awesome).  She loves hearing me say nice things about her. She likes silly faces and sounds. She takes us by the hand to get us to dance.  She sings everywhere and it doesn't really sound like much, but A for effort. She is still a good sleeper and eater. She hasn't wet the bed since the first week of potty training. She likes to be a big girl and do things for herself. She likes to make us laugh.

I read a personality color chart on kids and she definitely fit the color YELLOW.

I can't believe we are already two and a half years old . . .