My Toddler At 21 Months

Oops I’m nearly a month late with this update. It’s been sitting half finished in my drafts while I work on gift guides and reviews and it's nearly time for me to write her next monthly update! Little seems to change less each month now, but in the last months her speech has improved a lot and she has got increasingly cheeky. 

A collage of 9 photos of Little including in a snow white dress, sticking her tongue out, dressed as Gecko from PJ Masks, asleep on my chest, in front of an aquarium, on a throne and painting with her hands

Communication 


Since the last update Little’s communication has changed from being mostly single words to using 2 or more words at a time. She is repeating a lot of things what we say, but also surprising us with new words. She has also gone back to some of the babble conversations she used to have when she was younger. Before she could talk she would have very earnest conversations with us, telling us things that it would appear from her face were very important, but we couldn’t understand a word. These conversations stopped when she was able to say a few words, but now they are back again. This time she uses actual words at times so occasionally I know what she is saying.

We have definitely reached a stage where we can communicate with others each other to get our desires across. She will use words and actions to help me understand what she wants and if I guess wrong she will tell me “no” and we try again. She also mostly understands when I ask her to do common tasks (bring me things, put bits away, is she hungry or tired etc) but she likes to ignore me at times too. She is pretty strong willed and she will always make it clear when she disagrees or wants something. Often by throwing herself on the floor classic tantrum style.

Little crouched down on some decking looking at dried leaves

Activities


Little loves to explore, pull things off shelves and generally make a mess. She is slightly better at tidying up than Big Sister, but that isn’t really saying much.

We have recently reached the point where I am (slightly) comfortable letting Little climb up and down stairs on her own. We still have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs because the chaos she can cause upstairs of her own is impressive, but if I am upstairs I will let her wander up and down. She has a variety of methods to get down stairs, but her favourite is to bump down on her bum.

Little is still loving watching TV and somewhat embarrassingly for my mothering skills she can say: Gekko, Peppa and Chase but not her sister’s name.

Little can happily entertain herself for some time playing with toys, putting items inside each other, carrying them around in bags or baskets and building towers. These activities don’t seem to get old for her as they have fascinated her for months.

She loves to copy others, especially older children including her sister. This means she wants to sit at the table drawing when her sister does homework, this may sound lovely, but she needs careful watching to make sure she doesn’t eat the pencils or draw on anything other than the paper. We have also spent some great time together playing with play doh. Little likes to make marks on the dough rather than roll it out or make it into shapes. 

She is showing a greater interest in other children including those her own age and it makes me feel bad she doesn’t get to spend much time playing with others. In term time we go to two groups a week, but that is starting to not be enough time for her. We have visited a nursery and I’m hoping she can go to a couple of sessions a week from when she turns 2. Each session is 3 hours long so it’s just like a long playgroup really except I won’t be there. We’ll find out early next year if they have a place for her otherwise she will need to wait until September when more of the nurseries have spaces.

Growth


Little weighed 12.6kg as she turned 21 months and measured 85cm tall. She is in some 2 to 3 years clothes but mostly because I am bored of her old clothes rather than them no longer fitting. I have moved her on to size 5 nappies because size 4 were getting a bit small. I don’t think any more teeth have come through, but she has had some pain from teething this month.

Little kicking leaves

Feeding


Not much changes when it comes to food. She eats when she wants (a range of food, but not everything), nurses when she wants (too much for my liking) and asks for a “drink” when she is thirsty. I normally give her water but increasingly she is trying to have the squash her sister and I drink. She has also been having more almond milk to drink. She prefers it slightly warmed to body temperature and drinks more at a time this way. 

I’ve tried her on the dairy ladder again, but something always comes up to make us stop (one illness or another). I’m still struggling to find suitable biscuits that she likes as she prefers Oreo’s and Bourbons. I think she's going to be a bit of a chocoholic.  

Sleep


We had a lot of early starts this month. It’s normal for Little to wake for the day between 5 and 6am, but there have been a few days where she has woken up at 4 something and not gone back to sleep. That is too early for anyone. It’s still dark outside so it’s not light waking her up. I think she’s hungry or thirsty, but once fed she doesn’t resettle. 


Most of the time she has a good nap in the day, and if she doesn’t she is really struggling by bedtime. There doesn’t seem to be much difference to how well she sleeps at night if she naps or not so I’d rather she slept for a couple of hours at lunchtime so I have time to work.

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