Parenting Isla

Parenting Isla is a whole different ballgame. I like to refer to her as "the boy we never had" mainly because she is as rowdy, stubborn, loud, messy, independent and defiant as I would expect a boy to be. Granted if we had a boy he could very likely be the exact opposite of that but given she is her Daddy's carbon copy I can't help but see a mini toddler Jeff when I look at her.

She is all about the "I do it" and being a stinker a lot. We get a lot of the "what are you going to do about it" attitude even though she isn't being malicious... just challenging and testing her boundaries. And she taunts her sister a lot!

What's interesting is that she is a completely different child when is spending alone time with mom and dad so her behavior is definitely driven by the attention she does or not get. She is such a sweetheart then!

These days I've put a child lock thingy on her door so she can't come out of her room at night and wonder around the house. She doesn't mind it. In the morning when she is done sleeping she will stand by the door and call Maja to come open the door for her :).
Lately she has even began to turn her light on and reading her books or quietly playing after I put her to bed. Doesn't bother me as long as she goes to bed when she is done which she does.

We have tried to put her in Maja's room (since she is still using the room Zoey should be in) but each time we tried she made it more of a hassle then anything else so we will wait a few more months. Zoey will stay with us for a little while longer anyway.

But as much as she exhausts me and makes me want to rethink our non-spanking policy on regular basis, I love the heck out of her