I'm struggling to know what is normal with my 2 year old (she is 2yrs 8 months so closer to 3 really).
For context; she is my first, now has a baby brother, she was a lockdown baby, she was a super early talker, but otherwise 'normal' milestone wise, she hasn't been to nursery, starting preschool imminently (I'm paying for the sessions prior to her 3 Yr funding as I'm worried about her socially).
I can have a fairly decent conversation with her, which I know is possible for some kids her age but not all. She talks all the time at home, non.stop!
She has become, in the last 6 months, increasingly shy but in her little personality this comes across to others as grumpy or rude. I'm doing my best to provide appropriate social experiences for her. If an unfamiliar adult talks to her she point blank ignores, sometimes will develop an angry face and look at the floor. I know this is because she is worried.
She also walks away from other children if they approach her or try to talk to her. When she warms up to older children or adults she is mostly fine, she very ocassionally will play with a quiet girl of the same age but takes hours to warm up. She is consistently fairly difficult with my mum, doesn't seem to like her, will ignore her or be a bit grumpy around her. My mum's not a natural with kids and due to lockdown and distance she hasn't really built a bond with her, I think my mum is difficult to get along with generally and that she expects my daughter to instantly love her because she's her grandparent. Also I think because her speech is good my mum expects too much from her understanding and behaviour wise.
Day to day with me she is bright, chatty, funny, affectionate and kind. I love her company, she can play by herself but does like attention from me. She isn't particularly hard work, follows instructions well and doesn't really have tantrums, she does get grumpy but can usually communicate why and will just huff if she doesn't get her own way.
I don't really know what I'm after except I guess is this normal and just her personality or something she will grow out of? I'm so sad about the prospect of her growing up without close friends or struggling to make friends.
She seems very different to other children her age (I don't have tons of experience with her age though) my friends kids of the same age are more socially confident perhaps. My mum keeps telling me the ignoring and the grumpiness is not normal and says I let her get away with ignoring people when they talk to her. But in my mind she is 2 and nervous, telling her off is hardly going to help. Am I wrong? Perhaps there is a problem I'm missing. Any thoughts?