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Monday, March 23, 2009

The enigma of Matthew...

Matthew is now more than halfway through the terrible twos, I now realise how good Heather was! As I look back to last June how unprepared I was for the mayhem I was. After all I was a mother of two and therefore knew what to expect, we were even just about to find out that we were expecting Lucy...

Part of the changes in Matthew was the arrival of Lucy, although he was used to the competition from his elder sister this new pink bundle of strange noises suddenly arrives and takes up a lot of Mummies time.

Jealousy was of course a natural response, when Heather was confronted with Matthew she went from anger, to wanting to do everything for him to indifference. Now he can walk and talk they are in the main friends, their fights however often seem to turn physical.

One big difference between them has been the level of aggression. As a parent I have tried to respond to them both in the same way. We have allowed them to express their own interests and it is amazing how at two he is already into consumer culture. Heather, being at school is now immersed in the world of pink, fairies, princesses and the latest film release merchandise.

Still we are now seeing the seeds of our hard work, he is a very sociable little boy and when he chooses to be is affectionate. his initial jealousy concerning Lucy has begun to abate as he sees that now she can move about he can play with her, although should she dare touch his train tracks then consequences will follow.



He is desperate to copy his sister and be as grown up as she is and the frustration that follows when he can't. Still at three months before his birthday he can dress himself, hold a conversation, is dry during the day and despite the tantrums is turning out to be lovely. I worry about him being the 'middle child' of three and the only boy, and if anyone has any idea on how to prevent him arriving in my bed at 530am demanding Thomas the Tank engine etc on. Still he has invented two new characters Coastman Pat and God the builder - not sure where they came from as he can pronounce his P's when it comes to Peppa Pig, although Please sometimes escapes him...