Two Year Update
Elani is officially two and exploding with knowledge, curiosity, and a good amount of sass. I am so incredibly proud of how kind, determined, and silly she is. I taught preschool for many years, but the two year old room was the only room that I had ever been the lead teacher in. I assisted in all of the rooms from infant to kindergarten, but my first classroom of my own was with the twos. I find myself looking back on that time a lot as I spend my days with Elani. I try my best not two compare her to previous students or my friends’ kids, but it is not always easy. I do know that she is her own person though and she will learn and grow at her own pace. Being a part of that daily learning has been such an amazing blessing. I feel like she has changed so much just in the last few weeks, let alone since her 18 month update.
I’ve including information about Elani’s sleep, language and learning, eating habits, and play. Again, every child is different, but hopefully I can help you in some way if you have a little one of your own.
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Sleeping:
Elani has continued to do a fantastic job at naptime. Though it has not always been that way, we are incredibly fortunate that she sleeps 1.5-3 hours every day at naptime. We have a set routine for nap and bedtime and we try our best to stick to it.
We set a timer and she knows that when the timer goes off, it is time to get ready to go to sleep. We allow her to turn the timer off and she enjoys that a lot. She also turns the hall light on before we go up the stairs (even if it is naptime and sunny out). We try to give her responsibilities. She is in charge of closing her door, turning on her sound machine after her diaper change, and turning her light off when we are done reading books. She also likes to zip her sleep sack and turn on her stars projector. We sing songs while watching the stars float around her room and then blow kisses before bed. This is the routine that works best for us now and it really helps that she has things that she gets to help with.
Though we do not co-sleep at home, we have found that it helps Elani when we are away from home. We have tried the provided cribs or bringing our pack n play, but she always ends up waking up and wanting us. The best way to get her to go to sleep and stay asleep when we are not home is to be in bed with her. Once she is asleep, we’re able to get up and do whatever we need to. A really sound sound machine definitely makes that easier!
Language/Learning:
Elani is always curious, as are most toddlers. I love to take those moments of exploration and expand them into learning opportunities. Sometimes I give her the freedom to explore on her own and other times I set up certain tasks for her to engage in. Either way, it is so fun to watch her learn.
At this point, she can identify all of her letters as well as the numbers 1-10 so we are just working on letter sounds and actual counting. We use everything from puzzles, popsicle sticks, food, playdough, and actual letters and numbers to do this. Now when she’s eating, if she unintentionally bites her food into something similar to a letter, number, or shape, she’ll excitedly let us know.
We are continuing to work on naming colors. She matches colors with ease, but still can have difficulty identifying the correct name of the color presented to her. Circle time is helping with all of these skills. She requests it daily. As we get closer to the start of the school year, I am going to start planning actual lessons for circle time so keep an eye out for a post about that.
Exploring books is a favorite pastime in our household. Elani has access to many toddler-appropriate books, but I also have a lot of books with fewer pictures or more complicated stories within her reach. I think that it is important for her to see that not all books are full of pictures and bright colors. We enjoy reading many colorful and picture-filled books though and she has started “reading along” with me when we’re looking at a book that she is very familiar with. We read the same two books every night (Goodnight God and Goodnight Moon) and we change the third book every so often. Recently, the third book has been Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I can honestly say that I never cared for Goodnight Moon until I started reading it with Elani. It’s funny how the connection with our children can completely change our opinions of things.
It is amazing to see how much Elani understand, repeats, and says on her own. She has even picked up on Evan’s name and used it. Haha! At her two year doctor appointment (which was via video call), the doctor wanted to make sure that she was using two-word sentences, which she is. She is using mostly two and three-word sentences, but she strings quite a few words together when she sings songs. Most of the time, Evan and I can understand her, but it is not as easy for my family members that do not get to see her often anymore. Her articulation is definitely getting better and, though she is only two, it is something that I work on with her by sometimes repeating the correct pronunciation. Recently, she has been talking to her toys (and our dog) and saying, “Hi, what’s your name? My name Elani.” It’s adorable and we love it.
Eating:
Elani has the in-person portion of her two year appointment in a couple weeks so I’m not sure what her percentiles are, but I know that she is still on the lower end for weight since she is only about 23 pounds. She still loooooves food. In my last update, she was nursing three times a day, but I weaned her at 23 months (it went surprisingly well) and she is no longer nursing. A typical breakfast for Elani still consists of one egg, a handful of blueberries or strawberries, and one other food item (avocado, graham crackers, yogurt, bagel, etc). She also loves waffles and pancakes, but we normally reserve those for the weekend. Lunch is less uniform and changes a lot but she still enjoys grilled cheese, pasta, chicken, and a plethora of other things. Dinners also change frequently because she normally eats whatever we eat, such as tacos (minus the shell and lettuce), jambalaya, and chicken parmesan. We have had difficulty getting her to eat seafood lately, but my parents had her for a few days and she apparently loved lobster. If it was up to her, she would eat macaroni and cheese every day.
Elani tends to enjoy food more if it’s not on her own plate. She could have the same exact thing that we are eating, but it seems to look better when it is on our plate. Typical toddler! She also rotates through what she does and does not want to eat daily so we offer foods, but we don’t push. We make sure that there is always something that she normally enjoys on her plate and also give her foods that she generally does not eat for exposure.
Playing:
We try to get outside every day, but the weather has been particularly hot so we do what we can to keep cool. Elani loves playing in and with water. We also got her a small pool for the deck that she loves to splash around in. She still loves her water table as well. She has a rock collection that she likes to “clean” in her water table. We have not yet enrolled Elani in swim lessons and are not sure when we will now that we have the pandemic to consider. When she does finally start lessons, I think that she will enjoy her time in the water. She already treats the bathtub like it’s her personal pool.
Though she does not use it regularly yet, I am excited that we have this balance bike for her. I truly cannot recommend balance bikes enough. I was first introduced to them when I was a nanny and love the concept of children learning to balance before pedaling. The little boy that I watched was pedaling on a bike without training wheels by three.
Another favorite of Elani’s is her baby doll. Full transparency, dolls can scare me so I had to look at a lot of different dolls before I could approve the right one for my grandmother to purchase. This cute little baby was perfect! She is small and light, has a soft body, and smells great. The stroller is a different brand, but I absolutely love it. It is very easy for Elani to maneuver, works great inside and outside, and is not pink. I was surprised how difficult it was to find a nice stroller that wasn’t pink or brightly colored. I think that dolls are great for boys and girls. They promote empathy, compassion, social skills, and so much more.
There are so many other things that Elani loves to play with (blocks, stuffed animals, Little People, puzzles, balls, etc) and she is great with independent play. With another little one on the way, I hope that she continues to do great with entertaining herself. I definitely encourage it daily. Being able to watch her learn and grow each day has been a true blessing.
