She's Only Two You Know

So Kaitlyn has been verbal for a long time.  She saw Kung Fu Panda on TV, pointed and said "bear" thus the beginning of using her words.  She accumulated a lot of words fast.  By her first birthday, she had over 125 words in her vocabulary.  (Yes, we sat down and wrote them down and counted them.)  She was speaking in full sentences by 17 months.  She knew all her colors, shapes and body parts by then too.  People always think she is older than she is because she speaks so well.  I always thought that it was because she is big for her age, but no, it's because you can clearly understand what she is saying to you.  I never really thought that she was advance in any means, I just thought it was normal.

She had her 2 year well kid check-up last week and she is a healthy little girl; perfect in every way.  The nurses kept saying they were amazed at her speech, but I thought they were just being nice.  When the doctor came in, not our usual pediatrician but the other one that works in the office, she looked Kaitlyn over.  She was asking me questions about Kaitlyn and instead of me answering them, Kaitlyn did.  She was really amazed at how well Kaitlyn spoke and how clear she was.  She was also impressed with her comprehension.  She compared Kaitlyn's speech to a four year old! 

I thought about the kids in Kaitlyn's daycare class, comparing their verbal ability to hers and really couldn't think of a child who speaks as well as she does.  The ones that do were already 3 when we took her out for summer.  We saw a little girl who used to be in her class that is 3 days older than Kaitlyn and she is just now really saying words and associating them with what she is doing or wants.  (This little girl has been in the same class as Kaitlyn since they were 6 months old.)   

I guess this is why I sometimes get frustrated with Kaitlyn.  I expect her to behave older than she is because she speaks and comprehends things and concepts so well.  I got SUPER frustrated with her when we were potty training because she wouldn't tell me she had to go potty.  I would always have to just take her and if I waited for her to tell me, it was too late and she would say "I pee peed in my underwear!"  I would cry every night thinking I was doing something wrong and I constantly researched tips on potty training and find that I was doing everything all the "experts" were saying to do.  I didn't understand why she didn't get the concept.  Finally I had to tell myself that she's only two and she will eventually get it.  (Thankfully she is now fully potty trained.  She even wakes up in the morning and goes all by herself.)  I remind myself every day that she is only two and it is normal for us to have to tell her over and over to do, or not do, something and not to get frustrated.  She may have the verbal ability of a four year old, but she still has the mind of a two year old.    That's ok with me though...I love my two year old :)