I somehow managed to completely bypass your 22nd month update here on my blog but I feel like you've changed so much since your 21 month update. You seem more like a little boy now - you are fully fledged toddler that's for sure. Here's a look at what life is like for you at 23 months old..
You understand so much now - you're able to understand pretty much most of what we're saying to you, though not so much when you're worked up and in mid tantrum (yes, you have quite a lot of those now, where you'll randomly throw yourself on the floor!).
At 23 months you don't say any words yet, so technically you're a little behind with your speech development. But I'm not overly worried if I'm honest because so many people I speak to say that their own little one or other children that they know of didn't speak until they were over 2 years old. I just think that you'll speak when you are ready to speak. You were a late pointer but now you point at things all day everyday to tell us what you want. The health visitor suggested going along to see a speech therapist when she did your two year review last week (which you achieved everything (except the speech) in.) She said that it's best to catch speech delays early, in case you're still not speaking at 3 years old and when you go to start nursery. I see her point, but part of me just knows that children develop at different rates and I sort of don't see a big need for all the 'should be doing such and such at such an age' timescales. She also suggested getting your hearing tested, even though she could see for herself that you don't appear to have any issues at all with your hearing. I sort of think she's just trying to do her job by passing on her recommendations, but I'm just not sure that we need to put you through hearing tests and take you along to speech therapy just yet. It's hard to know what's best but perhaps I might reconsider in six months time if you're still not saying anything by then.
Asides from that you like to repeat a few noises which always makes me smile as I really do love to hear any sound of your little voice. The things you repeat or say are.. 'Meow' for cat, 'Woof Woof' for doggy, 'Choo Choo' for train (this is a new one for you this week) and 'Rawr' for dinosaur, tiger and lion. I've also started to use your hand puppets to help you talk, so instead of asking you to say something I'll ask your puppets and today when I asked the puppet to repeat 'Mama' and 'Dada' you said them both. I also think I heard you say 'egg' earlier when we were playing with your toy kitchen.
You are amazing at pointing out things in your 'First 100 Words' book, you love showing us where all of the different objects are. You get so excited when we get to the page with all the food and sweet treats on - you'll start using your mouth to point out things instead of your finger! You can also point out things on your body when we ask you where things are such as your eyes, hair, hands, tummy, tongue, teeth, nose, ears and toes. You can also do little tasks when we ask you to do things without showing you.
So overall you're showing lots and lots of understanding of what's going on around you, even though you don't yet talk. I'm pretty sure that you are aware that there is a baby growing inside of my stomach and you're always really attentive and will very carefully place your hand on my stomach to check the baby and give him a stroke.
- Being outside
- Mummy's hair - your biggest comfort!
- Your weekly swimming lessons
- Going for a ride on your trike
- Hand puppets make you laugh so much
- Peppa Pig
- Thomas the tank engine
- Pushing your cars about
- Eating pasta, cheerios and egg, and drinking small cups of orange juice
- Being allowed to have a little treat of a small bit of chocolate or a biscuit (which you'll dunk in our tea!)
- Going on your ride-on motorbike which you got for your birthday from your Great Grandad and also your ride-on plane which you also got from Grandma and Grandpop for your first birthday.
- Being at the park
- Being generally crazy and jumping all over Mummy and Daddy - you love to bundle!
- Cuddling up to 'Ted' and 'Doggy' at bedtime
- Sneaking your dummy in your mouth (we've had to start putting them in a higher cupboard as you're very cheeky and will go and get them out of the kitchen drawer if they are put in there!)
- Reading books with Mummy and Daddy - your favorite is Spot The Dog (we've read it hundreds of times and you still laugh at it)
- Pretending that random objects are phones and pretending to be on the phone
- Listening and dancing to your favorite song - Happy by Pharrell Williams
- Spending time at playgroup
- Spending time with your Grandparents
- Helping Mummy to put washes on
You eat breakfast perfectly every morning and really look forward to it. You have either Cheerios or Weetabix (or egg when you're at your Grandmas on a Friday morning). You eat your breakfast by yourself and like to be left alone when doing so.
You take your vitamins every single day and you think it's funny for some reason. You usually have egg with toast for lunch most day as you love egg so much, we do try and mix lunches up but we're happy that you eat so much egg as it's full of protein. You always want brown sauce on your egg as you really like it, but we're trying to limit this a bit as it's full of sugar.
For dinner your favorite meal is without a doubt - pasta! You will eat a HUGE plate of pasta perfectly (if we have it), but when we have other meals you tend to play up quite a bit. There have been many dramas over dinners previously and many times that we've had to trick you into eating your vegetables. You love condiments or having a little pot of grated cheese to sprinkle over your dinner so this helps. But on the whole it's just a case of us using different distraction techniques to get you to eat, unless it's a plate of pasta for dinner of course.
You sleep really well - you pretty much always have done. You're still napping, though sometimes you'll have very short nap times. You usually sleep from around 12 or 1pm to 2 or 3pm during the day. And then bedtime is from 7.30 or 8pm and you'll sleep through the night in your cot in your room until about 7am the next day. We're lucky with how much you sleep, I just hope your little brother follows suit! ;) 
On the whole you love to be around other people and other children. Though sometimes you can be a little grouchy if you're tired or simply just not in the mood to be around anyone else. You seem to prefer men over women. And you're at an age where you recognize different family members. You like to spend time with your Grandma and Grandpop on a Thursday evening and Friday during the day. You do cling on to Daddys leg when he drops you off a Thursday and get a little bit upset, but you're fine 20 seconds after he leaves and will cuddle up to your Grandparents on the sofa, have your banana milk and then go off to bed absolutely fine. You recognize and really like seeing your Great-Grandad too, as well as your Nana E and Grandad when you get the chance. You're definitely a Mummy's boy and will choose me every single time over anyone else. I love that you love me so much, but would love it if you did a little less hair pulling for comfort because it tends to hurt! ;)
You are fantastic at sharing your things with anyone and everyone and you'll even happily share your food with anyone that asks (and that's saying something for you as you love your food!). You're a lovely little boy, and I just know you'll make such a caring big brother when your little brother comes along in June.
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