What to Expect at Two and a Half

The latest www.mumsnet.com/ email discusses what to expect at 2 and a half years.

How he behaves: Negatively. He may have shown signs of resistance and stroppiness before the age of two, but at two and a half, he develops an attitude with a vengeance. He likes to follow his rituals and do things his way and is furious if you interrupt him. Sometimes he doesn't know what he wants to do but knows it isn't anything you've got on offer, even, incredibly, the park or an ice cream. It's hard to make him happy although funnily enough there is a sense of humour lurking - due to emerge closer to three. Jamie isn’t quite as bad as this – thank god! But he can be quite stubborn and refuse to take ‘No’ for an answer...

The trick is to be completely saintly yourself. Poor love, he doesn't like making himself or you unhappy. He's not really a manipulative, selfish little beast. Set aside enough time for him to try to dress himself, feed himself and bath himself without urging him to get a move on. My dad always told me that if I got into a confrontation with my children - I'd already lost the battle.

Now is the time for bedtime rituals before bed, he may like to have a teddy in bed, to have his light on or nursery rhyme tape playing. But this is also the time when he decides he'd rather be downstairs thank you very much, although when he's down there he'll be sobbing with tiredness and making everyone else unhappy. Restlessness at night is common and may be due to him being anxious about saying good night to you and you leaving him. This is partly to do with his growing realisation that he is a separate person, which you can imagine is a pretty heavy concept to get to grips with. Still problems with bedtime but difficult with daddy’s shifts to have a real routine. Jamie will sleep only when he is tired enough, but I do find a book before bed and then total quiet and darkness usually sends him on his way,

He will help to put things away because he's keen to behave like an adult (not realising that adults hate putting things away and would rather pay for someone else to do it). Jamie puts things away but loves tipping them out 5 minutes later even more!!

How he thinks: He can understand a bit more about cause and effect, so begins to understand that if he grabs that knife he may cut his fingers off. He is keen to name things and compare them, being able to say, not always correctly but with a sense of injustice that Johnny has a bigger biscuit than he does. He can understand simple time concepts, like "we will go the park after we've had lunch" but still make a fuss because he'd prefer it the other way round.

What he likes to play: He can complete one of those great wooden puzzles of 3 or 4 pieces (Jamie has done a 5 piece) and sorts objects by shape and colour. He can understand the difference between make believe and reality and will play make believe games with his toys and animals. Jamie is constantly playing games both by himself, with friends and with daddy. Dr Jamie, pirates, fire engines, castle etc. etc.

His physical achievements: He can make a tower of 8 bricks (although not always under pressure) and when he draws he will now make horizontal and vertical lines. He can jump and hop. Especially when doing 'Sleeping Bunnies'.

How he speaks: He can join together bits of sentences, using a subject, verb and object. He will refer to himself as "I" and know his full name. www.mumsnet.com/