Life in Toddler Town

Toddlerhood, such a special age.

As my friend Maria says, it’s the age where they can go from a terror tantrum over the tiniest disappointment to unbridled joy over spotting a cricket.

If you know me, you know I love babies. I love, love babies. Squishy snuggly babies. I love their cheeks and their smooshed faces and their noises.

So I was a little bit worried at how I would handle the toddler years. Loud, rambunctious, asserting independence, love-to-say-no toddler years.

But like usual, I shouldn’t have worried.

I am loving the toddler phase.

Harry is so FUN right now. My friend Lisa, whose daughter Beatrix is about three weeks older than Harry, says “My favorite thing is the insatiable, utterly fearless appetite for discovery. Every day, I am impressed and awed at how engaged Trixie is in her surroundings, how eager she is to learn, how much joy she takes in grabbing a new piece of information that helps her make sense of her world. I love that for her, the whole making-sense-of-the-world process isn’t complete until she’s shared what she’s just figured out with us.”

Yesterday we were out walking around our neighborhood, and I thought Harry was pointing at the school bus that was rounding the corner. “Oh yeah, bus,” I agreed off-handedly. But what he really wanted to show me was our neighbor’s boat. And he was going to make sure I noticed the boat too.

It’s crazy to me that he now has the words to distinguish between a boat and a bus. His language has exploded lately, and it leaves me in awe almost every time he pops up with a new word. (It’s also make me realize how often I say certain things like “all right!” and “ready?”)

I love …

• his excitement over hearing a new noise or seeing something new.
• that he is really into the dogs now. (Even though he sometimes wants to ram his toys into them, and we have had to resort to saying things like “No ramming the dogs.)
• his sweet little giggle. (And how easy it comes.)
• how into things he is. (Going outside. Signing Time. Singing. Reading books.)
• how exciting something like a garbage truck can be to him.

When we were in Ohio and he was playing with his cousin Micah, every time a motorcycle or a truck went by, both boys were transfixed. My aunt mentioned how funny it is that they are so in tune to street noises; things we don’t even notice as adults.

He has a lot of preferences lately. He loves his blanket (blankie!), and finally gave his pacifier a name (boppy for some weird reason). He loves anything that goes (airplanes, buses, trucks, cars).

So yeah. The toddler phase is pretty sweet right now.

After all, it’s only in Toddler Town that you can get away with pushing your hamper all across the upstairs while not wearing any pants.

What’s your favorite thing about this stage?