Observations about Toddlers

tod•dler (ˈtɒd lər) 

n.

a person who toddles, esp. a young child learning to walk.

 That is the definition for toddler.  Don't believe me?  Click here!

Well, I thought I had a toddler . . .but perhaps I have a youngster instead.  :)  Anyway, she just turned two not very long ago and I have been making some random observations about my toddler.

I wonder if any of these seem familiar to you if you love a toddler, too.

1.  If I have to drop her off at church nursery or somewhere else,  my toddler is always the most adorable child in the room.

2.  My child loves to be unsupervised in the other room.  Often she will sneak away and I will find her gleefully enjoying the finer things that belong to her dad, mom and siblings.  Which brings me to point number 3.

3.  My toddler LOVES anything with a screen and/or buttons.  TV remotes ( Aaaahhhh!  If I throw them hard enough, the batteries will fly out, too!), iPhones, iPads, laptops . . .all of these sorts of things make her eyes go big and resemble those cartoon characters of yester-year that would be hypnotized and rendered immobile for hours at a time.

4.  But I love it when I see my older kids learning to interact with her.  I'm not sure anything melts my heart quite as much as the light-bulb moment that went off yesterday when big brother realized that he could make her laugh and laugh just by making silly faces and moving his head back and forth so fast that his cheeks wobbled.

5.  It's hard being the grown-ups at times.  Toddlers like to things to be just so and they will melt down in the grocery store if you are out during nap time.  They will poop at the most inconvenient times and tell people things that will turn your face three different shades of red.  But that's okay because they are learning.

6.  And speaking of learning . . .I'm pretty convinced that this age is all about learning.  She's learning independent play.  She's learning manners.  She's learning to come when I call her, to stop when she's told to stop. . .she's learning to love books and learning to sit still when Mom combs her hair . . .

It's the best of times and the worst of times and I am lucky to be a part of it.

~ Jennifer