![\"hailey](\"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/hailey-at-two.jpg\" "\\"hailey")
<\/a><\/p>\nCommunication<\/strong>. She speaks in short sentences now (Hailey eat eggs cheese! or Mickey time TV please? More hug kiss please! Baby eyes closed night night. Mama food hot- cool off!). I love that she can communicate so well, yet I still love that words and sentences aren\u2019t pronounced perfectly. I keep trying to get as much of the cuteness on video as possible.<\/p>\n Attitude<\/strong>. Hailey is proving to have a sweet nature. She has her occasional tantrums, for example, I let her completely melt down in the cart at Target one time because I refused to give into her demand for my phone while she was screaming. That was a fun battle of wills for us, as well as for all the other customers. I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n However, most of the time she\u2019s incredibly sweet. She gives unsolicited hugs, kisses and Eskimo kisses when she is having a fun time. She\u2019ll just run up to hug and kiss me. It\u2019s my favorite.<\/p>\n Sleep<\/strong>. She is still sleeping beautifully from 7pm-8am. Sometimes it will take her a while to fall asleep, but I only know this because of the video in her room. She is quite as can be and just plays with her dolls and blankets until she\u2019s ready to lay down and pass out.<\/p>\n Naps<\/strong>, though, are becoming more elusive. I put her down at 1:00, but she rarely falls asleep before 2:00 or 3:00. Again, I only know this because I can watch her. She is quiet and plays with her dolls until she eventually falls asleep. I\u2019ve been waking her at 4:00 at the latest. So far, she\u2019s still ready for bed at 7:00, but sometimes she\u2019s grumpy if she didn\u2019t fall asleep until later and I have to wake her. Some may see this as a sign that she is giving up naps, and maybe on some days she is, but I plan on maintaining a quiet time in the house between 1-3. If she wants to sleep, wonderful, but otherwise she may play quietly. I\u2019ve noticed that having some down time works well for her, and for me.<\/p>\n Meals<\/strong>. I\u2019m thrilled that she\u2019s still a good eater. She certainly has her preferences towards toddler food. For example, if I put sourdough with melted cheese on her plate, along with tomatoes and avocado, she\u2019ll down the cheese first and ask for more. However, a simple \u2018you can have more if you still want it after you\u2019re done\u2019 nips it in the bud and she\u2019ll move onto the other options. I\u2019m maintaining the food philosophy of me deciding when she eats (3 meals and 1 snack) and what is on her plate and she is allowed to decide whether she wants to eat and how much. This means I don\u2019t push the clean plate club, however tempting it may be at times. There are times when she is distracted that I do sit with her and help her eat, but otherwise, it\u2019s all her. I\u2019m very satisfied with her eating habits at this point. She even tried a beet yesterday! She only ate one and was done, but being that I\u2019m still not a huge beet fan, I couldn\u2019t blame her. I was just excited she tried it!<\/p>\n Favorite foods currently<\/strong>: Peach yogurt, goat cheese, avocado, clementines, red peppers in her eggs, soup (usually it\u2019s my lentil soup mixed with a grain to be thick), dried mango and water WITH ICE. Gosh, she loves ice in her water.<\/p>\n Other tidbits I want to remember:<\/strong><\/p>\n She\u2019s taken to showers over baths. She hates to stop playing for bath time now, but if we give her a shower option, she excitedly goes and throws all her clothes in the hamper (the I\u2019m ready<\/em> sign). We get in together and she\u2019ll soap down the walls and spray them off over and over, grinning the whole time.<\/p>\n She likes to ask for two of everything. If I ask if she wants a banana, she\u2019ll say TWO nanas<\/em>. So far breaking things in half when she isn\u2019t looking is working.<\/p>\n She is usually pretty good with manners. She uses please and thank you regularly.<\/p>\n She likes to clean up any mess, no matter how small and always throws trash away. She\u2019s into cleanliness and will cry OH NO<\/em> if she spills. It makes me feel bad, so I keep telling her messes are ok; we just clean them up. She\u2019ll holds things up and ask me \u2018trash?\u2019 then run over to throw it away. She brings me her plate when she is finished eating and loves helping me empty the dishwasher, naming each item as she unloads it. Ailay\u2019s plate!<\/em><\/p>\n She has now experienced Mickey Mouse and is in LOVE. Watching her sing and mimic the dances to the hot dog song makes me giggle. She knows her colors, and uses them correctly 90% of the time. She is doing better with numbers everyday and made it to 11 yesterday on her own. She\u2019s VERY into books right now. We read at least 3 every night. Her favorite right now is Where the Wild Things Are. She asks for Max by name.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n