My Cutie & Sweetie: Sweetie's 2

Yes, this Sweetie turns 2 yesterday and what could be more exciting than to have a Hello Kitty Ice Cream Cake for birthday, yeah!

It has been an amazing day which marks another milestones for this little one. Her diapers was dry throughout while we were at Everland yesterday and today. She would tell me when she wanted to pee.

Guess telling her that she's a big girl now makes her feel different. Yet the day before, she still preferred to pee on her diapers. Or maybe it could be the new diapers brand which mummy bought that she doesn't want to pee on it? (Mummy bought the Japanese brand "Goo.n" which has many pictures of various animals on it. It could be due to the animal pictures on the diapers or maybe the diapers is just so soft and comfy that she doesn't want to pee on it?).

Nevertheless, just glad that this little one knows that she's 2 years old and has grown up now.

Here's a summary of her achievement over the 2 years:
1) 9-month: Totally off the pacifier; Able to stand on her own with support; Loves waving her hand to say hello and clapping; Able to open and drink through the straw from her Jiejie's magmag (waterbottle)

2) 10-month: Able to feed herself from her 200ml milk bottle; Expert at climbing onto the bed, over the bedrail (hee...)

3) 13-month: Able to walk on her own without support; Drive the kiddy motorised car

4) 14-month: Pee in her potty for the first time, Able to say and identify "Star"

5) 15-month: Poo in her potty for the first time; Able to climb up onto the dining chair herself, up and down the tricycle herself

6) 16-month: Able to wear and take off the boots herself

7) 17-month: Able to tell mummy when she wants to poo; Able to say 3 syllable word "Pororo" and "banana", Able to identify the letter "P", "E" etc; Able to identify body parts "hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, fingers, toes"

8) 22-month: Able to identify colours; Able to wear and take off her pants herself; Able to sing the A-B-C song herself;Able to buckle the seat belt herself (on high chair and stroller); Able to count up 1-14 in sequence.

9) 24-month: Able to tell Mummy when she wants to pee/poo (diapers dry throughout the day), Able to say and identify A-Z well; Able to express her thoughts into words she wants mummy to get up in the morning "Mummy, wakey, wakey, wake up, come out" and when I'm somewhere out of her sight "Mummy, where are you?".

Her academic achievement may not be comparable to her Jiejie, but it's not a problem cos' every kid is different and learning should cater accordingly to each learning pace. Well, she's just 2 only.

From my observation of people around, it seems that the second child usually has a lower learning ability as compared to the first (gee... cos' the parents had already exhausted all their energy on the first child?)

It is a TOTALLY different experience in having 2 vs 1 kid (haha... guess I'm getting exhausted with 2). Usually, the attention given will have to be split, which thus naturally puts the second child at a disadvantage in comparison.

The second child, however, may gain some intangible skills like sharing, socialising and companionship which kind of offset the cons.

To me, my Sweetie is a cheerful, happy baby and that's the most important yardstick for her achievement.