Middle Child or Terrible Twos

My little Maecie Jane is 2 years old. She turned 2 about 10 days after Lucie was born. She has gorgeous long, blonde hair with a little curl in it. {to which I'm slightly envious of!} She loves to play with her dolls, her little sister and big brother, and sing songs. But when it comes to listening to directions, Maecie has a hard time. 

When I first brought down the exersaucer for Lucie from the attic, Maecie wanted to try it out. I explained that it was a toy for Lucie and she isn't supposed to sit in it. A little later, I caught her starting to climb in. But what was funny and caught me off guard was that she told me, "Mom, don't look!", and covered her eyes {so I couldn't see her} while continuing to climb in the exersaucer. 

What might be cute and funny the first few times, isn't frustrating the 10th and 12th time! 

Needless to say, Maecie has spent a lot of time in time out. And since she has seen her brother go to time out, she knows how it works. When her time is over {I do a minute for each year old the child is}, we talk about why she was in time out. I ask why she had to go to time out, and she always responds accurately. So surely she should know that being a good listener is what we are asking her to do. 

I even try to make sure {no one is perfect} that when she does follow directions, that we praise her for listening.

So why is it still occurring daily??

And it's not just me .... she has had a hard time following directions for her preschool babysitter {who watches both girls while I teach music}. 

The thought crossed my mind ... is she starting to show signs of "middle child syndrome"? Or is it just the "terrible twos"? Or do these two things even exist?

I generally believe that the "terrible twos" phase is more of kids asserting their independence and wanting to start doing things for themselves. And middle child syndrome is more that when the child, all of the sudden, isn't the center of attention, starts to feel left out. 

We have been trying to make sure Maecie gets some one on one attention from us and that we let her do the things she can do and still be safe. We are keeping track to see if we notice things improving.

What are your thoughts? Do you think there is such as thing as "terrible twos" or "middle child syndrome"? Or kids are just kids?