Reflections on 'Age Two'

Ahhhhh, two.

Such a gorgeous little age, I just love it! I have been soooo looking forward to hitting this milestone.

Always monkeying around!

I think every (most?) parent ends up with ages and stages they love and other ages and stages they love... a little less. There are pros and cons to every age, and needless to say we love the little monkey's fiercely through the highs and lows, but I think most parents have preferred and less preferred stages. For me, (though admittedly still at the starting gates on the whole parenting gig so I can't really speak beyond age 3 at the moment, lol!) I just adore the snuggly newborn days, or rather find them pretty straight forward for the most part.

I think I gotta say my less favourite stage is the season from about 9-18 months. Yes, it has plenty of huge highlights full of sweet milestones -the first steps, first words and all that excitement. But gee, it is a busy age - little tykes with heaps of intention, places to go, things to get into and put in their mouths or ears or nose, all the while struggling to communicate with the world about what they want, whilst they also struggle to understand what this life is that is going on around them, and why they can't immediately have everything they want at every moment - life is tough for them! So many precious highs but yeah, I just find it pretty exhausting to be honest! Then of course this phase is quickly followed by the mother of all developmental leaps from 18-21 months but then.... and having gone through it with Lily I knew what was on the other side of the battlefield.... two.

Two, I find just gorgeous. They are talking more and more, can sit and engage and 'play' more intentionally and with less supervision, understand, reason to an extent, delay gratification and more. They become so much more independent (both my kiddos are toilet trained before two so that helps I'm sure) - able to do more for themselves and help with simple tasks too. Sure, the little cherubs can have a high old time making their wishes known around this age, but with lots of loving and firm boundaries and consistency, I find it's a pretty clear path through those issues if I stick at it.

So... I have been looking forward to hitting this milestone with my little guy. I remember passing 'two' with Lily and on the other side all of a sudden I realised - wow, so things aren't always going to be as crazy full-on as it is with a baby/crawler/young toddler? When you are in it and just doing it, you don't even realise how relentless the work/supervision is until all of a sudden it pulls back! Two was the marker for me for the movement out of babyhood and into toddler/childhood and while I of course love and cherish many sweet moments in those early years, there is also something satisfying about hitting this two year mark.

Baby no more, he is my big boy now!

Of course, Eli's Two-ness is yet to be fully experienced but even in the last month or two I have seen us cross over to this phase. He is such a little man now, able to play, chat, tell stories (in very short sentences and words but still, the boy can tell a tale or two!), engage for ages with his sister, play games, put away laundry, follow simple tasks and even do craft activities without eating all the glue or swiping everything to the floor in four seconds!!

It was also a shock to realise that at this age, Lily had already been a big sister for a whole three weeks whereas Eli gets another whole six months to be the youngest. He seems so much older than Lily did when she got her baby brother... I'm sure helped by the fact he has his sister always teaching and guiding him? 

My little man.... I look forward to walking through this year with you, soaking up your gorgeous smile and watching you take on the world in your own special way - with vigour, joy and passion!

PS I'm sure every parent reading this may have totally different stages they love more or less - this is just my own personal preferences thus far! Eg I know many Mamas who struggle with the newborn phase but adore a crawling little bubba! Maybe we could arrange swaps for some of these differering seasons, haha! Feel free to share in the comments about your fave/less fave stages.