Lovin' two

I was chatting to a woman the other day (can't even remember who) and her two kids were three and five years old. When I told her mine were two and four years old she said 'oh I love two!' (meaning two year olds). And I gushed right back at her in agreement.

Right now is a good example - Charlotte is jumping round the room with her teddy saying 'look' (then lies on the ground with her bear saying 'mermaid'), jumping up and down with her arms outstretched, with teddy on her head saying 'hello', asking me to kiss teddy, giving teddy to me saying 'knee knee', turning round and round and round saying 'ballet, ballet, ballet. All the time laughing and with such joy of life. It's really contagious.

And the quirkines...she loves porridge and will often ask for it as a snack or after dinner ('porry'), she wanted her Barbie plate yesterday saying 'kiss' and 'cuddle' (and yes, she kissed and cuddled it...well as much as you can a plastic plate), her manners are impeccable...she will say 'thankyou Mummy' more times than not at the right time, she is obsessed with money and loves playing with it and purses/wallets.

Her communication is good...if I exclaim because somthing just happened, she'll ask 'happened?', if I give her a series of consequences (ie first I have to do this and then I'll put your shoes on) she'll say 'ok' and 9 times out of 10 she will be ok, she is keen to engage in a conversation by stringing together a series of sometimes random words while looking at you earnestly (ie 'dog, ca-ca, eat it' which always gets a response!), she has already started asking 'why'...not often but it is funny to hear, sometimes you have to know her language for example 'like it' usually means she doesn't like it (soemtimes said during dinner), other times she'll say 'mmmmmmm' in the most expressive way that you are glad she is so enjoying what she is eating.

She is so affectionate, no having to teach this kid how to hug...if we pick her up at the moment she puts her arms round your neck and gives you a squeeze, her favourite words are 'cuddle', 'squeeze'and 'kiss'.

She loves playing with Lily and follows Lily's directions re what they are playing, like this morning when Lily was riding her horse (the stick one) and Lily gave C a 'ticket' to use for a ride. When she told C to get on, it wasn't really possible for C to hang onto to the end of the stick as Lily was running round the apartment so C ran after her and they continued this for ages, doing laps around the kitchen, dining area and lounge room.

So smart - she can recognise and name a triangle and pretends to count 1, 2, 3. Every colour seems to be blue or black but she is repeating other colours. And her favourite game at the moment is puzzles...she will follow you round holding her puzzle saying 'puzzle, puzzle, puzzle' over and over wanting you to do the puzzle with her.