My Toddler at 23 Months

Eeek the last update before Little turns 2 years old. I can barely remember my life without her in it (but I do have a rubbish memory) yet the last 2 years seem to have gone by so quickly. I guess it's something to do with having no time to actually do anything and each day blurring in to the thrilling tasks of cooking, cleaning, nap time, bath time, bedtime etc. How does it work exactly? I am constantly busy, spend most of my time with Little yet I don't seem to achieve anything. Little on the other hand is achieving a lot. While running around and causing chaos she continues to develop language and skills at an alarming rate.

A collage of 9 photographs of my daughter including playing with her sister, eating ramen, in a princess dress, next to a Christmas tree, in the snow, ice skating and asleep


Communication


Everyday there are more words and improved sentences coming out of Little’s mouth. We are so impressed with how quickly her language is developing. I actually find it frustrating now when she is grizzling and not using words because I have got so used to her telling us what she wants. I have lost count of how many words she knows. I have read that they should say at least 50 words by the time they turn 2 and on average they can say 100 words, but Little could do that months ago. She has developed language skills much faster that her Big Sister who didn’t really start speaking until she was 2 (not that you would be able to tell now).

Activities


The biggest challenge with activities, especially those which involve going out of the house, is that Little does not like to get dressed. It’s not that she minds wearing clothes, but when it comes to changing her out of her PJs or putting her trousers back on after a nappy change she isn't happy. Like any normal toddler she does some excellent screaming and anyone walking past the house would wonder what catastrophe has happened inside. This would be easier if it wasn’t the middle of winter and I could quickly yank a dress over her head. Fortunately when she is clothed and we are heading out she is more than happy to put her hat and gloves on (but maybe not a jumper or tights). 

She continues to love to dance and to fill bags with toys and carry them around, but we are getting a few new activities appearing too. She loves to pretend to sleep and to play hide and seek, but she might need to refine her hiding places a little, especially as Big Sister doesn't get the idea that she should pretend she can't find her straight away.

Two sisters on a sofa in Christmas PJs from tesco

Growth


People keep on telling me Little looks tall for her age, but I’m not convinced. I think it’s probably because with short hair she looks younger and they don’t expect her to be her height regardless of how old I say she is. She has grown about a cm in the last month and is now 87cm. She continues to gain weight slowly and now weighs 12.7kg. 

I think she is teething at the moment as we have had some extra night wake ups, but on the few occasions I have been brave enough to have a feel no teeth have come though.

Little in a red velvet dress with sequins at the bottom laughing, dress from M&S and lots of mess in the background

Feeding


Little is currently a much better eater than Big Sister; she eats a wider range of foods and will eat spicier foods. I wonder whether this will continue as she gets older? I need to keep giving her a variety of flavours to try and encourage her good eating, but this is challenging when cooking for her sister as well.

I have finally managed to reduce the number of breastfeeds Little has, or at least the time she spends feeding. This has definitely been my choice and not hers because she would feed all day if I let her. I talked last month about how I was particularly struggling with the long early morning feeds where she would wake up early and not ready for the day, but also not be able to get back to sleep. We would lie in bed dosing and feeding, but I felt so touched out. Some days I give her a short feed then insist she gets up with her Dad, other days she has fortunately been sleeping longer due to less naptime.

Sleep


This month has seen Little move from a cot bed to a junior bed and she has started sharing a room with her Big Sister. It’s early days, but it seems to be going ok. Napping has been more of a challenge though, the days Little has napped we had some problems getting her to sleep, but the days she didn’t she went to sleep easily. I’m still not convinced she is ready to give up the naps yet and the change happened literally overnight, but not napping has definitely been easier over the holidays.


Little has been waking up fairly consistently around 6am (with between none and two wake ups before then). 6am is obviously horribly early for us adults, but she used to be waking up about 4am so I much prefer the 6am starts. I am grateful that her sleep has improved again after last month and while the nights she sleeps through are occasional they are there. And I’m grateful for every single one.

Little in a blue dress and blue boots looking at ducks on a lake

2 comments

  1. Oh I am with you on those early morning feeds! If Oscar wakes up before 7am he does not want to be awake and is basically continuously feeding on and off in desperation to stay asleep! That is amazing at how much she is talking - I reckon we are going to have a very communicative little boy. Must be a second child thing I reckon :)

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  2. Whar a wonderful update! I hope she has a great year ahead. My boy turns 3 next month xx

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