2012 is going to be a great year.

So many friends and family are having babies and planning to have babies this year. Some are having their firsts, most are having their seconds or thirds!

All the talks about babies has made me reflect on the past 21 months, thinking about how parenting has changed since Kayleigh's joined the family and what it's been like to raise two little girls.

The best part by far is seeing the closeness of the two sisters develop as they get older. Kayleigh absolutely worships Abby and tries to mimic her with everything. Abby thinks Kayleigh (aka HER baby) is the cutest thing in the world.

The toughest part may be that they're so distinctly different in personalities and temperament that a lot of the experience we had dealing with Abby's "Terrible Twos" phase does not apply to the Kayleigh-style attitude we are seeing now.


The girls rarely get to watch television. When they do, they generally get a movie. Their recent obsession is with 'Rio.'

I understand now what my mom has always said - that raising two kids is actually not much more difficult than raising one. They share with, play with, entertain, help, learn from and teach each other. All leading to less and less dependency on Paul and me. It's been a healthy exercise in allowing the girls resolve conflicts on their own. It has noticeably helped Kayleigh develop her vocabulary and has helped Abby stretch her mind, trying to come up with a solution that is beneficial for her and also accommodating and pleasing to her sister.

Minor episodes of jealousy are inevitable, though, but for now they're limited to noticing age-related unfairness, like Kayleigh getting distraught over seeing Abby get 2 vitamin gummies while she only gets 1, or Abby getting upset because Kayleigh doesn't get reprimanded for dawdling NEARLY as often as she does.


Abby and Kayleigh get along great MOST of the time.

The two sisters are so different that I think similarities really end at their facial features. Beyond the dark, curly, brown hair, big, expressive eyes, and little button noses, they couldn't be more different. We love each girl so much, but so uniquely, if that makes any sense.



They say that the second one tends to be louder because that's the only way they get heard. Parents pay less and less attention as more kids are added. It's true! The reason isn't because we care less, though. No no. It's because the household just become really, really loud and to save our sanity, we need to filter out most sounds. Screams, choking coughs, nagging persistence that begin to sound urgent, etc. get responses. Everything else becomes buzzing background noise. Abby is at an age where constant chatter and singing are the norm and a lot of times, she's just talking to herself.

And in case you were wondering, we are not currently planning on having a third child, but the option is still available, so we'll just have to see how things go.