We are in the midst of more travels. We are on trip 3 of 3 with just me and the girls. It's been... interesting. Lainey is in the throes of the terrible twos. And they really can be terrible sometimes. I've had to up my game as disciplinarian with her. It's not fun, but after a couple of weeks of a little more tough love she's really doing better. Not perfect by any means, but better.

The biggest challenge has been sleeping. We have all been sleeping in the same room for the last few weeks on and off. That is a big challenge for Lainey. She is a dark room, no noise, no distractions kind of sleeper. She's been sleeping a lot less because of the sleeping arrangements and that really does not improve behavior at all. We are now at my mom and John's house where she can sleep in her own room. She's doing so much better. She now wants the door open with a little bit of light to fall asleep. And now she is staying in bed when she's told, so that helps so much. Wake up time has been creeping earlier and earlier which is tough on this night owl. But in some ways I actually enjoy waking up earlier and getting my day started. If only Brooke was sleeping through the night and I was rested!

And that brings me to little Miss Brooke. This little munchkin is such a happy little girl. She is all smiles and giggles these days. It's awesome. She seems to be a much more expressive baby than Lainey was. When she's happy, you know it. When she's not, you know that too, but fortunately that's not too often unless she's overtired. She's a much bigger baby than Lainey. She's wearing clothes now that Lainey wore at one year and beyond. It's kind of funny to see such a young baby wearing the clothes Lainey walked in. She's off the charts for height and 93% for weight. And while you'd think that means she should sleep through the night, it actually means she's up every 3 hours round the clock. We're getting through it though. When we are home next month and I have a tag team partner again I'd like to try to night wean her a bit. We are in survival mode right now.

Brooke's milestones so far:

-Found her toes last week.
-Rolled tummy to back two weeks ago.
-Rolled back to tummy last week.
-Grabbing toys and reaching for things with more dexterity now.
-Lots of baby babble.

Lainey's recent milestones:

-Two year molars finally broke through! Uppers in late April, lowers in mid-May.
-First dentist appointment! She saw my cousin's husband, Dr. Jeff on our trip last week. All looks good, but she has some decalcification on her upper eye teeth, possibly from a fever during development.
-She surprises us almost daily with her vocabulary and knowledge of concepts (like that she can get away with things if adults aren't watching and asking us to leave).
-If it's a princess, she loves it. Sleeping Beauty is her favorite, but she's going to be "Purpunzel" in the purple dress for Halloween when she turns 3. :)
-Favorite word that she doesn't say correctly, "Leegotard"