The terrible 2's blues!!

When, oh when, will Gracie be potty trained? And when, PLEASE when, will she stop waking up at night... for hours at a time?! As they say, this too shall pass... or shall it?

The girls are alike in so many ways... sensitive to a fault, emotional at the drop of a hat, best friends and worst enemies (already). And yet, they are so completely different in so many ways. When I was in the depths of sleep-deprivation despair with Lainey, I thought it would never end. Will she ever sleep through the night? What seemed like forever was actually only 6 weeks... at the 6-week mark she slept through and never looked back. Fast forward two years to potty training time. We decided one weekend to give it a shot, and she did it. Piece of cake. And while friends would tell me of their kids getting out of their beds at night to come crawl in bed with them... I was slightly envious to have one of these little slumber parties as Lainey, in 4 years, has never even seemed to know you could get out of bed in the middle of the night. Kinda funny when we think about it!

And then we have my head-strong second born! At the 6-week mark with her, I just knew she would follow in her sister's tiny footsteps and come through for us. Didn't happen. With each passing week, I went to bed each night with hope that *this* would be the night. Not only did it not happen at 6 weeks, it didn't even happen at 6 months! Try a YEAR. That was a looooong year! And potty training? Don't even think about it. As we are approaching her 3rd birthday, I hear the grandparents and family's questions (to her, always) more and more frequently, "When are you going to stop wearing diapers?! When's your mommy going to potty train you?!" Believe me, I'm so ready to stop buying diapers its not even funny. Do you know how many cute clothes I will be able to buy once my diaper/wipe budget is gone? Unfortunately, we have tried but have had zero luck. I've done exactly what we did with Lainey... bribes of m&m's, promise of popcicles... but to quote Jeff, "She doesn't give a sh*t about rewards!" Its true, she couldn't care less. She wants the candy, but she doesn't care to work for it. She'd rather go without. Its funny to an extent, but it is getting frustrating. And the whole idea of being able to get out of bed that Lainey STILL doesn't know about? Not only does Gracie know about it, she's a pro at it. We're on week two of her getting up either before she goes to sleep to just sit and look over the banister, or get up in the middle of the night and scream at the top of her lungs for me to come get her and either lay down with her or get into bed with me. I feel like I have a newborn again! UGH!! Except this one talks back!

Jeff has reassured me this all will pass... she will not go to Kindergarten in diapers... and she will sleep alone once again... and I know he's right. But you know how when you're deep in the trenches of these situations you don't think they're ever going to end? Like this is your life for the rest of your life? I'm feeling that way just a little right now. Luckily, Gracie has the funniest sayings, cutest smile, and is one of the two best huggers I know. That buys her some time... and some patience from me. She'll need it!