Whilst he didn't wake up on the morning of his second birthday a completely different toddler, Ethan definitely started to change. As is only natural and to be expected, for a small boy who is learning and developing all the time. There's been quite a few things we have noticed, both good and well, not so good, so there's no doubt that Ethan's been keeping us on our toes ever since he blew the candles out on his choo choo cake.
* You may have liked the word 'no' before but you're really putting it to good use now, saying it before we even finish a question and then often promptly changing your mind.
You're really testing your boundaries now, getting quite forceful with telling us no when you really don't want to do something. It used to be mainly when we were getting you up or putting you to bed but your moods are more changeable now and with no warning, you can be really stubborn.
We've read that for children a little older, giving options rather than asking straight questions works best to help get rid of the word 'no', as it gives no other choice than a real answer, but you don't quite understand options yet. We'll keep trying though.
* We've witnessed a couple of tantrums now and they're usually triggered by something small. We went to Birdworld with Nanna a couple of weekends ago now and when we took you off the swing, you got very upset and threw yourself on the floor and refused to move. We had to leave you to it and start walking away to try and make you come around - I know you like swings but a little while later, you forgot all about them in favour of penguins. You like penguins.
* Bedtime is something you're still pretty happy about and between 7.30pm and 8pm, you'll ask to go to bed. You can take up to two hours to settle, particularly when it's Mummy's shift, but bedtimes are always a happy time in the day.
You take all your toys and put them under your blankets, only to take them out again a while later. You'll ask to read teddy book (Paddington) then we move on to putin (penguin, either Lost and Found or Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers) and we play music too to help you wind down. Oh, and you say 'Mummy, nnare' and point at your bottom, asking me to rock you to sleep! Cheeky boy.
* Your speech has been coming on leaps and bounds but since turning two, you now talk to yourself and even sing when you're lost in your own thoughts.
* You role play with your toys now. You'll take Woody and put him on Rex and say 'yeehaw!' and you'll jibber away to them like you're telling them what to do. Watching you play with your toys is a lot of fun and you like us to get involved, telling us to sit down next to you.
* On that note, you can be pretty bossy. I guess you have for a while, as you're very confident in yourself and around others and you're not afraid to tell us what you want... or don't want.
* You've started to refer to yourself in the first person and can even recognise your name when it's written down. Genius, that's you.
* You're showing an awareness to other people's emotions now and can pick up on these things when watching others or something on TV.
All in all, the two's haven't been too terrible but I would say that they're going to probably be more testing. The more you learn and do, the more you want to learn and do so you're definitely pushing us more and working out what you can and can't do.
Every toddler goes through this and that's all I bear in mind. You really are a great deal of fun Ethan, and so loving and kind too. We've been having a great time as a family recently, spending quality time together and getting out and about, and we have a week off together ahead too to look forward to.
You're chatty, you're funny, you're the cutest thing.
You're you.
So who cares about the terrible two's?
We've been experiencing the terrible twos since Eliot was one. I'm hoping they'll tone down now he's two ;) x
ReplyDelete