The absolutely glorious thing about having a two-year-old is that with their increasing ability to make conversation comes an increased understanding of who they are – you begin to really get to know them as little people.
Suddenly they can actually describe to you what they dreamt about last night, or tell you what they would like to do tomorrow. Exciting times.
There are occasions though that I can't help but worry that, based on the things she says to me, Ava is barking mad.
For example, we were sitting on the floor drawing with crayons. I asked Ava what she had drawn and she said: "It's a bat!"
"Oh!" I said, "That's a good bat."
And she said: "Yes mummy, it's a big bat, just like you!" And she beamed at me.
What do you do when someone reveals to you that they think you are a bat? I flapped. It seemed natural.
That afternoon, during one of our dancing moments (to New Orleans jazz), she picked up a sock that had been abandoned in the living room (the general state of my house is a whole other blog) and hugged it and said: "Awwwwww."
"Why are you hugging the sock, darling?" She looked at me like I was completely insensitive. "Because it's sad."
Obviously.
"It's sad. It's lost its mummy and we have take it to shops and it's tired."
???
Days later, we were watching a cat out in the garden. It was a black cat.
"A fox!" Ava said. I looked at her and she seemed not to sense the question mark over my head. "A fox!"
"No darling, that's a cat."
"No mummy, it's a fox," (she wasn't backing down). "It's got a handbag."
I really have racked my brains, but why on earth a creature carrying a handbag would prove that it was most definitely a fox and not a cat is beyond me. I do hope, as she talks more and more, one day my gorgeous little loony will enlighten me.
Catch up on previous Terrible Twos here.
Share your loony times with your toddlers below...