These twos are anything but terrible

 

Before you pat me on the head and think, “That’s so cute, just wait til the twos really get started,” be assured we have our double share of tantrums, screaming matches, poop on the floor, running into streets, random sudden fears, and hair-pulling. They intensified just around two with a force that was definitely terrible, and happened about the same time they moved to toddler beds and got rid of the pacifier once and for all, so we had a rough month of “It can’t be like this forever!”

But with a few adjustments and the expectation that tantrums will happen, we’ve settled into two and I love it. Their imaginations are amazing– right now Catalina says her stroller is an airplane and her baby doll is flying it. But she had to fix it first, with a hammer. Yesterday Lucy was pushing a car up the walls and saying to herself, “Airplane? No. Car.” (Can you tell they love airplanes these days?)

Maybe because of their growing imagination, they’re able to play together happily for 10 or 20 minutes at a time. This morning while I made breakfast, Lucy read to herself, narrating aloud, and Catalina made chocolate milk and coffee in her kitchen. Of course everything is punctuating by them asking for 75 things at the same time– “Mommy, read the book!” “Mommy, hold!” “Popsicle!” But they can play for a long time without fighting.

This is adorable, and also pretty awesome for me to listen to their cute conversations while doing dishes or working on my Bible study for a few minutes without crises.

For me, every new stage has had its overwhelming weeks til I got used to it. Around 10 months I wondered how it was possible to nurse and feed them solid foods without feeding them allllll day. At 14 months I wondered how to cook real food for them and us every day. At 18 months I wondered if I’d survive all the emotions because they wanted to do everything themselves — get dressed, put on shoes, change diapers– but couldn’t. And then it took 20 minutes just to get to the car. (It still does.) At two I thought, “Eighteen months was nothing to this!” And it wasn’t. But it’s so good; I think every new stage is better than the last. So here’s to the not-so-terrible twos.