What could be more fun for two 2 yr old boys than jumping in mud puddles?  It was a beautiful day – the rain from the night before left plenty of mud puddles, and the sun had come out to keep them warm while they played – perfect!

Family time is so important.  Most weekends we’ve had something major we were preparing for or participipating in, but this weekend we had nothing!  It was glorious! The weekend started with a date night at Horizons Resteraunt followed by a morning of puddle jumping in sunshine – the boys got suited up in their rain gear and had such an amazing time!

muddy puddle jumping

We took them home for their snack and quiet time before heading out to another park to look at ducks and swing on swings.  The whole weekend they were sooo good!  It’s amazing how much easier toddlers are when your focus is simply finding parks and playing with them.  It’s not that the age itself is difficult – it’s that getting things done with a child that age is difficult!  If one can focus on them and their interests it’s a piece of cake!  So here I am in this familiar place of contemplating and altering my parenting according to the age and stage.  Parenting is the most incredibly dynamic and challenging thing I’ve ever attempted – and I love it!  It keeps you on your toes – when they are babies our challenge is getting enough sleep and food while tending to their shorter sleep cycles and seemingly constant need to eat, as they get older the challenge moves to keeping them safe as they explore their boundaries and focused when they’ve developed the ability to wander off in the middle of getting them dressed etc. and keeping them entertained while getting our own tasks done because a set of keys is no longer a source of entertainment!  It better involve gross motor skills for the better part of the day, and intellectual stimulation for a good portion as well.

Ethan at 2.5 yrs can now count to 12 and point out most of the letters in the alphabet and relate them to words -” ‘m’ is for mama, ‘e’ is for Ethan, ‘g’ is for granddad, ‘n’ is for nana, ‘p’ is for pee pee, ‘s’ is for sophia, ‘k’ is for keida…”  and it goes on!  I’m also so happy to hear him singing Twinkle Twinkle all by himself as we drive to the grocery store.  He spends most of his play time at home “fixing” things as he uses a wooden hammer and screwdriver to fix all his toys, he engineers train tracks, and often picks up a bag and grabs Aiden’s hand saying “we’re going to get groceries, come on Aiden”.  When I ask what he is buying he tells me “cereal, milk, and grapes” – all the important foods of course!  If he’s not going to get groceries he’s going to work – he leaves the room for a few minutes telling me “good bye, I’m going to work” and then returns shortly with a very excited “I’m back!”

I’m loving this new age and stage.  I’m thankful for the support and help I have, because as enjoyable as it is, one must not neglect to mention the effort it takes to answer the many questions of “why?”, “what’s that?”, “what you doing?” and so on, and repetitions of such questions until one gives a satisfactory explanation.  I’m also thankful for the help because there is of course the sore back that comes with carrying a 50 lb child on ones hip – because at 2 they still need that up time and I just happen to have a very solid 2 yr old!

What a gorgeous child he is – what a beautiful joyous gift to be given – the honour of being a mother, the privelege of caring for an individual as they grow and change, the joy it brings me to provide a safe and loving space for this incredibly unique person to grow and discover himself, his boundaries, his independence, and his place in the world.

The tremendous 2s!