Today my baby turns two which means she’s officially not a baby anymore. Sad times. It’s funny how much each night, laying awake with her, hoping she’d let me get just another hour of shut-eye, felt like an eternity. Yet, at the same time, these past 24 months have gone by in a blink of an eye. Yesterday we were worried about whether she’d ever get past the newborn reflux stage and today, here we are asking her to stop chasing her puppy around with a wooden mallet.
It’s been an epic two years, watching our little family come into its own. I feel there is so much more growth to be had by us all, adults included, but I’m so proud at how much we’ve all gelled together in this past 2 years. From me navigating returning to work after a pretty short maternity leave to the OH making the decision to continue working nights so that baby Bob would be with him during the day and we wouldn’t have to fork out a small fortune in childcare. Of course, Princess has been a gem too. For someone who burst into tears at the very idea of being a sister, to Bob’s favourite member of the family. My soon to be eleven-year-old plays so well with Bob and has the patience of a Saint. Most of the time. It feel like just the other day I was writing pregnancy updates and here I am updating you on my daughter as she turns two!
So, what is Bob like at two?
At the moment, she’s obsessed with rules and order. The doors must be shut. Her hands must be washed clean the moment she gets them messy. This means that she’ll ask for them to be washed during a meal too!
She’s really getting into role play. The wooden kitchen which once belonged to her big sister is now one of her favourite toys and I spend many an hour sat on the floor being fed wooden vegetables and plastic pizzas.
How many words can the baby say at 24 months?
100s! I’m not kidding, or at least it feels that way. Bob takes part in the BRIGHT Study. As part of the study, we have to fill out a questionnaire which involves us ticking off all the words she can say and understand. Just before her 2nd birthday we had to fill out a new form, so it’s very up to date. It’s epic to see how many of them she knows. Bob has started to talk in broken sentences of three or four words. She’ll say things like
“Go to bed now please”, or
“I’m hungry. Food please” she says this one a lot. The bed one, less so.
Other words she can say include:
shower
bath
puppy
birdie
cake
pizza
car
elephant
horse
phone
kindle
outside
upstairs
Social anxiety in toddlers
Though, if you’ve met her in person, you’d probably think she’s mute. At just before aged two, she’s picked up a bit of social anxiety, which is totally normal for toddlers. At times, being out and meeting new people can seem a bit intimidating. In these situations, the baby will make eye contact with her shoes, or simply close her eyes if an adult tries to initiate a conversation or if there are simply too many people around. Because of this, we decided not to have a birthday party for her t2nd birthday. What’s the point if it’s all going to prove too overwhelming and leave her feeling out of her depth?
Bob’s favourite food at two years old
OMG this child can eat. We often joke that she must have worms as it seems impossible for one little person to eat so much. I don’t think there’s ever more than 30 minutes with her having nothing in her mouth. Pasta is always a winner for toddlers and our child is no different. Chicken is also a favourite which is interesting as her big sister has never liked eating meat. Bob also enjoys all fruits and will reel them off by name until you say yes. Strawberries and grapes are probably her favourites.
How will we celebrate our baby’s 2nd birthday?
On this day, which marks the second year since my super quick delivery of this awesome human, we’ll be enjoying this warm Spring weather with ice lollies and perhaps a visit to our local outdoor swimming pool. There will be cake and of course, me regaling my unwitting audience with tales on how I pushed Bob out with no pain meds and managed to join my eldest in the school playground the very next day. Like a boss. Or more likely, like a woman still running on the fumes of adrenaline who really should have been home sitting on a bag of frozen peas, taking it easy.
