Getting reference to child component in parent component

In Angular 2, I have a component that has a child component. However, I want to acquire a copy of that child component to use in the parent, to call its functions or whatever.

I found out that I could use local variables, and that way I will be able to use the component in the template. However, I don't to only use it in the template, I want to use it in the actual code of the component.

I found a way to do that, here is the child code:

//our child
import {Component, OnInit, EventEmitter} from 'angular2/core'

@Component({
  selector: 'my-child',
  providers: [],
  template: `
    <div>
      <h2>Child</h2>

    </div>
  `,
  directives: [],
  outputs: ['onInitialized']
})

export class Child implements OnInit{

  onInitialized = new EventEmitter<Child>();

  constructor() {
    this.name = 'Angular2'
  }

  ngOnInit() {
    this.onInitialized.emit(this);
  }
}

Parent:

//our root app component
import {Component} from 'angular2/core'
import {Child} from './child'

@Component({
  selector: 'my-app',
  providers: [],
  template: `
    <div>
      <h2>Hello {{name}}</h2>
      <my-child (onInitialized)="func($event)"></my-child>
    </div>
  `,
  directives: [Child]
})
export class App {
  constructor() {
    this.name = 'Angular2'
  }

  func(e) {
    console.log(e)

  }
}

I implemented it here in this plunker. But it seems like a hack.

Isn't there a simpler way to attach the component to a variable in its parent?