What I've learned from Leo

I'm a bit late in writing this post, but my son, Leo, turned 2 at the end of July.

Everyone says it goes so quickly, and indeed, it does. I look back at pictures of him as a newborn and it really does feel like just yesterday, but he's definitely moving toward little boyhood.

 

In the last week or so, both my husband and I have noticed a real change in him. His sentences are becoming more complex (at the same time he's making up strange words. Any of your kids do this?), he seems taller and he is wayyy more independent and, ahem, oppositional. It's funny how pronounced some of these developmental shifts can be, while others sneak up on you.

At the moment, he is really into making up little stories and scenes with his Duplo people, playing with his Hot Wheels and his new stove and cooking set. Favourite books include Cat in the Hat, Do Not Build a Frankenstein! and Each Peach Pear Plum, with the new-to-him I Broke My Trunk a close runner-up.

He loves to try to catch pigeons and see fire trucks and ambulances and "mococycles."

It's been a nutty two years, filled with amazingness and, I'm not gonna lie, challenge, but on balance I have to say I feel so much happier and content overall than I did three years ago, when my husband and I took a flying leap fuelled by blind faith into parenthood.

Leo has focused me and boosted my confidence, and while I'm far from perfect — I relate to this mom more than I probably should, and patience is a work in progress — this life definitely feels right to me.
So here's to you Leo, you sweet, hilarious, lovable, beautiful character of a kid, happy 2nd birthday. I love you soooo much. I can't wait to learn more from you.

What have your kids taught you?