Dear Rex, Now You Are Two

Well, my son. How far we have come. And what a long way we still have to go. Today, you are two. Two whole years of you.

You started walking properly last November thanks to Center Parcs and one of their lodges and you haven’t stopped wanting to move since!

The talking is definitely coming along. You say bee, boofs (which means shoes or boots or both!), park and a very relentless ‘mum-mum-mum-mum’. You love to spin and dance and stomp your feet and you adore the outdoors.

Getting Outdoors

Because of your love for the outside, and thanks to you, I have started to make a concerted effort on the garden and we have even planted some things together. You know how to ‘dig, dig, dig’ and you think it is hilarious when I say ‘if you want to splash in muddy puddles, you must wear your boofs’!

The park is another big love of yours. The swings hold no interest and it is the slide where it is at for you. Go big, or go home! You seem to be fine with the see-saw and the roundabout but, for someone always on the go, you want something you can keep climbing and moving on. 

Thankfully we have a park just up the road which you visit on a regular basis – and it is perfect for either me or your daddy – or both – to take you out to just before dinner or nap-time. 

Food

Mealtimes are sporadic in respect of what you eat – and how you do it! You are a huge chocolate lover (just like your mum!) and you know the word cake too. Bacon, baked beans, Coco Pops, spaghetti bolognese, cucumber, tomatoes, strawberries, bananas and apples are all on the menu.  We have snack time around 10/10.30 with your ‘little bowl’ and you tend to have raisins or fruit flakes. 

You only feed yourself when you feel like it and will happily hand the feeding of you over to me, your dad or your sister.

Daddy

Speaking of your Daddy, I can see how much you both love each other. You regularly ‘yock yock’ on his office door, climb into his cupboard and pretend to disappear! He plays with you and has let you start to use his old wrestling toys for some imaginary play. He loves to take you to the park, ‘baby’ you and I regularly hear you laughing together. He plays you ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ which is a video on YouTube and you quite happily sit on his lap to watch it. 

He looks after you a lot of the time and we take it in turns to get you up as well as do bath-time and put you to bed. We both have different ways of doing this and you know both routines very well.

Our bedtime routine 

When get you out of the bath, we love nothing more than a cuddle with your dummy and bobo (blanket). Then you are ready for bed and we read your  ‘hoo hoo’ book as you call it – or Under the Sleepy Stars featuring owls as the main character. After that, and as I have done for quite a while now, I sing ‘Feed the Birds’ from Mary Poppins to you. You lay on my shoulder as I sing and I love that closeness. If daddy puts you to bed, the songs are ‘The Street Where You Live’ and ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ – both, fittingly, from My Fair Lady (the Rex connection!). Mim mim, Ollie the Owl, Duggee, Roly and a small barking dog all share your bed!

Big Sister

You and Grace are definitely a force to be reckoned with. You both ‘spin, spin, spin’ around the floor together. She makes you laugh relentlessly. You just think she is the funniest!

She plays with you and cares for you and can even bath you and put you to bed without either parents input if she had to. Whenever she teaches you something new, she is utterly over the moon.

You do ‘squeegy’ in the bath, she shouts at you in a funny voice and you dance around the paving slabs together singing ‘Un Pocoloco’! 

Your Grandparents

You associate all of your Grandparents with something your paternal Grandad started. That is shaking his cheeks and making a funny noise! You regularly make that noise and shake your face to copy that if you see his photo or talk about him. You utterly love your Grandad and regularly love to run around with him. I think you inherited his ‘get up and go’! You love Nana and her caring ways too.

One of the things that really felt wonderful last week was when my mum and stepdad came to visit. You don’t see your maternal grandparents as much but, when you took my mum’s hand in the park on Friday and led her off around all the equipment, I nearly cried. 

Me

You and I don’t always see eye to eye but that doesn’t stop you continuously asking for me. We can certainly rub each other up the wrong way. I am sure that will continue as you and I both get older! 

I may not have the energy for parenting like I had for Grace and for that, I can only apologise. It doesn’t change how much I love you though – and how much mum-guilt I still get! 

You

You show no fear when we are out and about. You will happily run across the other side of the park without even looking back! We go to toddler group on Tuesday mornings and I don’t see you for dust. You will pretty much go up to anyone if they speak to you.

There are some things that do scare you; lions, snakes, crocodiles and ‘Not So Scary Sid’.

We go swimming at Water Babies every Thursday and you cling to me like a limpet! We still go though as I think that it is such a valuable life skill to have. I often wish I had continued going with Grace so will definitely run the course with you.

You are certainly strong-willed. If one of us tells you ‘no’, we hear an ‘Oh!’ and something is generally thrown on the ground. You will throw temper-tantrums and cry if you don’t get your own way. 

You do push other kids around a bit and we always teach you not to. You don’t let anyone get the better of you though and we will definitely make sure that continues! 

Your Favourites

Hey Duggee, Peppa Pig, The Bee Movie, Finding Nemo, bubbles, digging, splashing, running, the slide, chocolate, Mimim (your rabbit), owls, caterpillars, butterflies, bees, dinosaurs, boofs (!), the garden, cars, bricks, LEGO and books.

The future

We are off to Farmer Palmers at the end of the week to celebrate your birthday and, beyond that, we are looking forward to a summer full of fun with you sister. I am also particularly looking forward to Christmas this year as I just know that this is the age when the magic really starts!

Happy 2nd Birthday my gorgeous boy. I want you to have it all.

 

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