Two years and counting

It's been nearly a year since I last wrote here, which is a shame given the shear amount of development that has gone in Henry's life.  I have finally succumbed to marital pressure to put finger to keyboard again and update the blog.

Henry turned two last week.  The notion of a child turning two brings with it fears of tantrums, which we have avoided, in the main, so far.  He is definitely attempting to exert a personality, and we can see frustration from wanting to communicate more than he feels able but mostly, we have all survived.

He is a running, stomping, jumping cheekly little boy now - a devilish grin appears to get him out of most tricky situations.  What has been noticeable in the last few months, and again I would say it is a result of his cognitive development moving at pace, is the development of fears.  He is having a major water wobble and clings to us if he is in out of his depth - but absolutely loves the water if it is shallow enough.  He has also been a little fearful of our tortoises, but as he gets used to them again (they only recently came out of hibernation) this seems to be easing.

What is hardest is knowing how to deal with it.  Do we soldier on, exposing him to these risks and hoping that desensitises him?  Or should we be child led, letting him dictate the pace but running the risk of ingraining these anxieties?  As in most things I imagine the answer is somewhere in the middle but these are the challenges that make parenting such an exhausting, difficult and frustrating calling.  However, the smiles, the giggles and the reminder that the world is a fascinating and wonderful place continues to make it all worthwhile.