I'll be the first to admit how lucky we've been with sleep when it comes to having a 2-year-old. He slept through the night, nearly every night, for a long time.
Potty training tipped the balance of power. We told him to tell us when he has to go to the bathroom at night. And with that came a realization that he runs the show by telling us when he has to pee.
He's slipped in and out of patterns, refusing naps and resisting bedtimes some nights. One night he told us, "I just want to look at Daddy." Not even Mommy says that, so I immediately called B.S. and sent him back to bed. OK, so I gushed a little bit, smiling on the inside, and then sent him back to bed, where he proceeded to throw more tantrums.
Since he only said it once, it wasn't prevalent enough to include. Here is a helpful pie chart with some of the more frequent requests (by percentage):
