Katy and Charlie: toddler times!

It seems like only yesterday that CBeebies presenter Katy Ashworth had her little boy Charlie, but he’s growing up fast, so we thought we’d sit down for a chat with Katy to see how she’s coping with having a toddler in the house…

Hi Katy, how’s Charlie doing? What’s he into at the moment?

He loves words! Everything is ‘the moon’, and we say ‘bye bye’ to everyone with frantic hand waving. And he started walking just before his first birthday which is just brilliant as well. He adores hanging out with slightly older boys and copying their games and ways, and if there’s a girl in sight they get a massive hug and a kiss, even if they don’t want one!

How do you think Charlie’s changed from a baby to a toddler? What are the differences for you?

Well, he actually has some hair now…I can’t believe how bald he was for so long. Bless him, he looked like a little old man!

I’m finding that it’s very stressful to try and do something that you really need to do with a toddler in tow – like going food shopping or even just going on a walk. Charlie just wants to do what he wants to do, and go where he wants to go. On days out, it makes so much more sense to go somewhere and do something where Charlie leads the way, otherwise you just end up in a sweaty, stressed-out mess trying to get stuff done!

That said, it’s a lot more rewarding because he’s much more of a little person now, and we have little gobble gabble chats and talk about stuff. He’s coming out with something new every day, and when we have free time together doing nothing it’s pretty much the best thing in the world.

Does Charlie notice now when he sees you on TV?

About a month ago, he suddenly twigged that it was me, so now every time I’m on it’s ‘mum mum mum’ with lots of pointing and excitement. But a few days after he started doing that, he also started pointing at Alex and saying the same thing, so I’m not quite sure what that means for Alex!

He’s still too young to fully interact with other programmes, but he definitely does seem to engage with some more than others depending on the person’s voice.

Do you find that Charlie likes the same books or songs over and over again? What are you word-perfect on these days?

He certainly does, he loves books like you wouldn’t believe. He wakes up and goes straight to his bookshelf – I think books give little ones a real sense of security. Reading the same stories together is such a source of comfort for both of us – it’s my favourite time of the day. We have a few classics like ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and ‘Oh Dear!’, and I’m definitely word-perfect on those. Another lovely one I’ve discovered is ‘The House in the Night’, and we read ‘The Wonky Donkey’, which has the best song to go with it!

Have you got a lively toddler on your hands at the moment? Share your top tips and favourite moments with the rest of the CBeebies Grown-ups community on Facebook or Twitter.

Your toddler: resources for parents and carers from CBeebies Grown-ups