Born Muddy: “Our toddler’s first word was ‘tractor'”

The pitter patter of little wellies fills the Kent air as ‘farming toddler’ Syd explore her muddy new world.

2-year-old Sydney, the apple of dairy farmer Steve’s eye – has spent half of her life in lockdown… but it’s not stopped her following in her parents’ wellied footsteps and getting muddy.

Born in March 2019, little ‘Syd’ is the little ball of happiness that turned the lives of muddy-matched couple Katie and Steve from one of a three (with working sheepdog, Flo) to an awesome foursome at their rural home in Kent.

Katie and Steve met whilst country life dating with Muddy Matches in September 2016, bonding over a shared passion for horse riding, countryside pursuits and matched outlook on life. READ HOW THEIR CONNECTION BLOOMED ONLINE HERE

It was true farmer love. Plans were quickly laid to deepen their rural roots as a family.

2 and a bit years later, and along comes Sydney; their self-dubbed ‘farm toddler’.

“Having Syd has been the most amazing thing to happen to us.” proud mum, Katie tells us. “She already loves the animals at the dairy farm Steve works at. We often find her sat with the cows.”

“She loves getting tractor rides and helping in the cowshed,” she adds, with one eye on the roaming toddler, whose character and personality blossoms by the day.

“She watches daddy milk and helps a lot with getting the sheep in and the lambing. She collects our chicken and duck eggs that end up everywhere, but she does have a little habit of hiding things too.”

There’s also a love of tractors. After all, which toddler doesn’t love a spot of farm machinery! Syd takes it to new levels though.

“She’s 100% a daddy’s girl and he is obsessed with her, too”, Katie jokes. “Her first word was ‘tractor’.

“We walk a lot with her, but she does love riding her quad bike and enjoys a tractor ride. She spends loves watching them.

As for being cooped up, despite having a whole new world to explore?

“Syd has been great over lockdown as she has been kept busy with lambing. But we can’t wait for her to get seeing friends and socialising with something other than animals.

“We are looking forward to taking her to some soft plays outings; something safer than the bales she is using at the moment!”