My girls turned two about a month ago. For a few days there, I thought they may have also turned terrible, but it passed, like all things do. They're not terrible at all. It may just be me, but I love this age (theirs, not mine). I've loved raising toddlers in general. They are so much fun, and so smart. I find that I enjoy so many things so much more because I'm enjoying it through my children. I have so much fun watching them have fun. Before parenthood, you just can't quite grasp that. You have nieces or nephews, or take care of friends' kids on occasion, but it's not the same. With your own kids, when you've watched them change from sleepy little lumps to smiling, giggling, rolling, waving, clapping, talking little people, when you've put in unthinkable amounts of time and energy to this little person... you help them, you teach them, you practice with them...it's so rewarding to see them learn and experience new things. You see a ladybug for the first time again. You get excited about heavy machinery working on the side of the road, because your kids are excited to see a bulldozer. You can think of no better way to spend a Saturday than a day at the zoo, because you can't wait to see your child's face when they see an elephant up close. You see your child rocking and shushing her little baby doll saying "it's okay baby, shh, shh" and you see yourself. It's incredible.
Some of the things we are working on at age two are potty training (round one didn't take, gearing up for round two), the transition to big-girl beds (has to happen soon, they're ready, I'm not), and the occasional tantrum or biting episode.
I'm feeling pretty relaxed about potty training. I would like it to happen, but I just don't think we're going to be early birds in that department. I'm not going to push it too much, but I will give opportunity (running around bottomless), and encouragement (mini- M&M's), and we'll see how it goes. I've cleaned up a lot of accidents so far, and it can get a little overwhelming, so we'll take it slow. For all of us.
The transition to big girl beds is a necessity. We've had a few incidences of the girls climbing into each others cribs, and even a crib swap one day. For safety, it's necessary, but I was really hoping to keep them contained longer. Sigh. I may have another sleep deprivation blog to write soon. The sleep was nice while it lasted.
The tantrums and biting are manageable. I'm finding distraction to be very good at stopping a tantrum before it starts. Like all kids, when they're rested, fed, and paid attention to, they thrive, so we just try to keep on top of those things. Only one of my girls has done the biting (always to her poor sister), and it's probably happened about 4 or 5 times. I know it's normal, so I'm not freaked out, but it's still unpleasant to deal with. One, because I feel like my child is stressed and can't cope with her feelings and I want to help her. Two, because my other child gets hurt. It sucks. So I'm doing what the books say. Label feelings, be firm, be consistent, pay attention to the hurt child, set them up for success, etc. I think it's all good advice, so I'll keep following it, and I'm sure with time it will improve.
Today, my girls took all of the cushions off of the couches and were jumping on them, saying 'that's awesome!' over and over. I've never heard them say that before, and I have no idea where they heard it. It was awesome. So that's two right now. Every day I think I would love to have another one, so it must be pretty good.
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