T at 2 and a Half!

I didn’t actually plan to do one of these posts until T was at least 3, however over the past six months since he turned the big Zero-Two our not-so-little boy has changed so much! From his language to his character to the way he reacts to situations. 2 and a half has become such a huge milestone in his development that I don’t want to keep quiet about it.

I just can’t believe how much he’s changed in such a short space of time – physically and mentally! Things are happening where I say to myself: “Were you doing that yesterday?” or “I didn’t know you could do that!”

I will try to keep this brief, but over the past six months T has developed into an amazing human being and I can’t quite put my finger on how it’s happened. That’s not to say that I had any doubts* about my parenting ability (*OK, maybe a few) but some days I don’t feel that I try that hard – and yet we seemed to have created this awesome person who is kind, generous and loving, confident and independent, and just an all round good guy.

Toddler-isms

When I read about this creature called a ‘Toddler’ I expected a lot of tantrums and crying, a lot of unreasonable demands, and generally some tough times. But with T, we haven’t had anything like it (I will regret saying this) or half as bad. Sure, we’ve had the occasional breakdown because he hasn’t been allowed a treat before breakfast or Oscar is sat in ‘his’ seat on the sofa, but he’s soon stopped after what I think is a pretty short space of time. We’ve never had a throw down in the middle of the super market. Have we just been lucky? Or is our toddler broken?

Of course being toddler isn’t just about the bad stuff, but thanks to the internet it’s what you’re more likely to hear about! But for us, it’s not been like what you hear at all. If I were to count how many times T has properly kicked off in the past month I’d definitely have fingers remaining.

I Heart My Toddler

Personality

T has always been a very kind and considerate little boy, but this is now shown in more obvious ways such as offering to cover me up with a blanket if we’re watching a film or asking if I want my steak cut up whilst at dinner – whereas before it would be in the form of sharing his snack or giving out random hugs (thankfully, he still does both of these!). I can only imagine he’s copying what I do to him, but I’ve never asked him to do it back to me so it’s so sweet that he’s doing it so instinctively.

What I love about T is that his kindness extends to other people, including strangers. At nursery, we’ve heard stories where he’s comforted the new child in the room who is having a tough time adapting, and out and about we’ve seen him say his pleases and thank yous without a prompt as well as share his toys with other children. This doesn’t always extend to his cousins, sadly, or the toys at home, but 9/10 he’s spot on with sharing.

In addition, he genuinely enjoys making people laugh and is always very helpful. He’s happy to do as he’s asked (putting his clothes in the wash bin or help hang out washing) or offers to help around the kitchen (he loves to help with the cooking!). We may have a problem with selective hearing (I swear, he can hear me open the biscuit jar from the garden) but who wouldn’t concentrate more on fitting train tracks together than putting a ton of LEGO away?

Development

Where T used to be quite clumsy – often falling over when walking or avoiding all things to do with balance – he now runs over to walls asking to be picked up so he can walk on them. He also runs at speed (sometimes downhill!) without falling over and for quite a length of time too. Sometimes in a straight line! Adding onto his new found co-ordination, he’s also confident with a knife and a fork and the other day even gave chopsticks a go.

He enjoys exploring and is generally quite happy to walk off a lot further without us when on walks or at the park. Speaking of parks, he’s now quite confident to climb, and even climbs a lot higher than previously. He’s certainly much more adventurous and is happy to take on challenges.

EMBED: https://www.instagram.com/p/BajyKU7lfmc/

Language

This is probably where we’ve seen the biggest changes and is probably my favourite part about T at the moment.

where do I start?

Firstly, I can now have real conversations with him. Perhaps not about the economy, but I can talk to him about his day at nursery or what’s happening on the TV or what he’d like for lunch or dinner. Likewise, he’ll start conversations with me about something he’s seen (although sometimes he’ll mention it a few meters down the road when the object is now not in sight!) and either ask questions or link it to something or someone.

There are times when I have to try a bit harder to get an answer out (at bedtime when I’m at work, for example) or his answers are be in the form of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ but like us, I guess they don’t always want to talk. But when he does, oh my goodness it melts me. He has so much to say about everything. He wants to know what things are ALL THE TIME, often asking me three to four times for good measure (even when I’ve already answered) – he wants to know what I’m doing, what his mama is doing, what Oscar’s doing…

When he’s not asking what things are he’s telling me what they are or what to do. Whether it’s asking me to follow him somewhere, do something for him, show him something, fix something, help him. If he can instruct someone he’s so happy – but not in a bossy way. He just likes the thought of being independent and knowing what to do already or how something works and then showing that person how it works. The other day he told m that rain came from the clouds in the sky. RAIN CLOUDS IN THE SKY! Come on! He’s 2!

It’s amazing

Secondly, he KNOWS stuff. Like, really knows stuff. You may have seen me mention it on Instagram the other day, but at home we have a pack of flash cards, about 50 of them. They contain everything from numbers 1 to 10, to items and people. I decided to go though them one day to see what he knows and I kid you not, he knew well over 70% of them. Everything from different animals (apart from a zebra and a camel) and objects to vehicles and clothing (although didn’t quite understand a dress and called it a shirt instead – guess that’s one issue with two non-feminine mums!). He even knew some ‘out there’ objects like ‘Crown’ or ‘bin’. I guess I’m getting my monies worth out of nursery eh!

I was astonished. Not in a bad way or a way that meant I thought T wouldn’t know some of this stuff, but I often get taken back when I see what he can do at two! Especially when it’s stuff that I don’t remember teaching him or stuff that I didn’t think a 2-year-old would know. For example, when I said that his bowl was empty he said the contents were ‘gone’. Seriously.

What I love is that he genuinely understands me and responds back. I feel that I now don’t have to simplify instructions, if at all, and others can understand him too, meaning he can talk to others if he wants to (sorry folks on the bus!). By now, he must know over 100 words. From objects to general sentence formation. He is so so clear and is actually very well spoken.

So much for keeping it brief!

I know this sounds like I’m bragging, but wouldn’t you? I’m incredibly proud of T and have been since he was born, but since becoming a toddler (and likely leaving toddler-hood soon) my pride has grown with my heart. He makes me beam every day – even when he’s challenging every decision I make – as I know that I’ve created this person, this little character.

I could talk to you about him all day every day and I probably wouldn’t have told you everything! At least now I know where he gets it from!