Dear Mushroom,
You turned two last week. You’re growing into such a lovely little boy and you surprise me all the time with things you do and say. I wonder how old are you now, as you read this? I assume you’re reading because you’d like to know what you were like when you were two. Well…
You are adventurous but cautious with it. You will try any new foods without complaint and even when you’re afraid of something (the wooden bridge at the park, the teddy bear that sings Cliff Richard songs – you have Grandma to thank for that! – and the really high slide at soft play) you will still approach it and give it a go. I admire that about you. Just last week you mastered the wooden bridge – you stood at the start shaking with fear and I repeatedly told you it was ok to get down and try another day. ‘No!’ You said, determined to overcome your fear. After several attempts you eventually walked all the way across without help. You were so proud of yourself. I love your tenacity and I hope you continue to have this approach throughout your life. It took me years to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway,’ this seems to be something that’s just a part of you.
What else? You are so very loving. You often cuddle and kiss me and Daddy, and your friends, and sometimes their Mums too, if you know them well enough. You’re cautious around strangers but curious and polite, and if you decide you like someone you don’t hold back in showing it. You’re very sensitive to others’ feelings and sometimes you become distressed if someone else is upset. This is a sign of emotional intelligence and will help you to build lasting and loving relationships in the future but I hope that we are helping you to understand that although it’s important to be sensitive to other people’s feelings, you must put yourself first and you don’t need to ‘fix’ them. You can try to help them feel better – I’ve seen you do this at nursery by offering a teddy to a crying child. I’ve also seen you hide under a chair when a child cannot be consoled. Sometimes people just need to feel what they’re feeling. Eventually it will pass. I wish I could explain all this to you right now, but I can’t. For now I can just wipe away your tears and reassure you. So far, it seems to work. You believe that magic kisses can cure all ills and that Mummy and Daddy can fix anything. We can’t, we’re only human too but we’ll let you believe that a little while longer.
You love to talk but your vocabulary is limited. Sometimes this frustrates you but you’ve become very good at ‘explaining’ what you mean without using words. Most of the time we can figure out what you’re saying. You say some things as one word although they’re two or more -‘watdat?’ meaning ‘what’s that?’ and ‘eeyar’ meaning ‘here you are.’ Your favourite words at the moment are ‘bubble,’ which is also one of my favourite words) ‘car,’ ‘more,’ meaning ‘again’ as well as ‘more,’ and ‘no!’ You have just started to say ‘apple,’ and you now call all fruits either apples or bananas. I think you tried to say strawberry last week but you’ve not said it since so I’m not sure. I can’t wait for you to start putting whole sentences together. The longest sentence you’ve said so far is ‘Mummy, up!’ Memorable because it was my birthday and you were refusing my request a lie-in. I don’t mind getting up early really though, it won’t be long before I have trouble getting you out of bed, I’m sure!
You have a great sense of humour and you already think you’re a bit of a comedian. The other day I filmed you having a mini tantrum. You didn’t notice at the time and it quickly passed. Later, I played the clip back to you. You smiled slyly and said nothing. Later, you called me ‘Mummy, mummy.’ You put on a mock angry face and, half smiling, you started to stamp and shake your head ‘Mushroom (said) nonononono!’ Then you stopped and fell about laughing. You were impersonating yourself. It was hilarious. We both ended up sitting on the floor laughing as you did it again a couple of times and then sighed ‘Mushroom… no..’ you giggled and went back to your toys. I expect you will start impersonating me soon and perhaps that will be less amusing!
You’re interests are pretty much the same as they were at 17 months – you like:
Bikes – we got you a balance bike for your birthday and you were so excited, shouting ‘bike!’ at Daddy repeatedly while he put it together. You were pretty good on it straight away but much like your scooter, you’re less keen on riding it outside so far
Motorbikes.
Scooters – you now have one of your own but haven’t quite mastered the art of riding it yet (I expect this will make for a future blog post!)
Cars
Trains
Aeroplanes and helicopters…
It’s not all about transport though…
You still love music and dancing…
Cooking and cleaning (real and pretend!)
Making things with Play-doh
Drawing and painting…
And finally, you also love
Animals – You prefer cats to dogs and….
People – You’re more shy now and spend more time watching people but once you warm up there’s no stopping you. You recently made Daddy late for a night out because you insisted his friend sit on the stairs with you for a ‘chat.’ He was so charmed by you that he stayed another half hour.
I’m sure there’s a lot more to be said but these are the things that come to mind right now. I wouldn’t say that they define you – as I have no idea what goes on in your head – but they give a good picture of the you that I know at the moment. I look forward to seeing who you become over the years and supporting you along your way to adulthood and beyond (if you’ll let me!).
With love as always,
Mummy Xx
