There is something about a toddling tot, a wobbly walker, which makes you start seeing that your baby isn’t a baby anymore. That is the case at our house, for Lily has turned in her bare feet for walking shoes, has given up stroller sitting for eager exploration, has tested our home for baby proofness and tested the limits of just how high and far she’s allowed to wander now that she has two capable legs and a mind of her own. Last month, I had a sweet baby girl. This month, it’s toddler time, and I am just trying to keep up. It’s easy to be excited, hard not to be nostalgic, and honestly, extremely exhausting. My days consist of accident management, of trying to minimize bruising while allowing discovery. It’s wonderful to see her learn about the world, but I am very grateful she waited until fifteen months to walk across a room, as I find this stage a challenge. I waiver between hovering and holding her back and letting go and letting her bruise. It’s a tough balancing act. She is fearless, trying to make her way up rock climbing walls at the park, to attempt anything she sees big sister do, and to keep up with kids three times her size.
In many ways, this is an incredible age. I get to finally see more of what my child is thinking, where she wants to go of her own accord, how she will react when confronted with new experiences that she can run toward or run away from. On the other hand, I have to discipline more, set boundaries, and teach her how to react in a way that is kind toward herself and others. It is no small task, and it makes me remember when I had a small lump who mostly needed snuggles and unconditional love. Somehow, I forget that those snuggles often occurred at 3:00 a.m.
When I think of how exhausting it is to start a new job, learn a sport for the first time, or do something outside of my comfort zone, I am absolutely in awe of what it must be like to be little Lily. Much of her day consists of trying to acquire a new skill, learning how a new procedure works, and working to make sense out of something that forces her to grow. No wonder babies need a lot of sleep, easily cry in frustration, and seem to swing from a smile to a scream in a second. Toddler time is tiring!
Although exhausting, it is also exhilarating to watch. Along with being on the move, Lily has so many other fun new skills. She is adorable pretend playing with her big sis. Emma will ask her to “come play grocery store,” and she will quickly go to her assigned seat in our living room, sit in a tiny area between the back of a chair and the wall, and pretend to go to the grocery store. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding along with her imagination. She will hold a play phone or any object up to her ear and say “hu-llo” in the most adorable accent. When holding a baby, she snuggles and pats it and says, “bah-bee.” She quickly picks up upon cues when people are leaving and says, “buh-bye.” I showed her my ankle this morning, and then she pointed at her own, saying, “ankle.” When we sit down at a meal, she folds her hands and says, “Ah-men” while smiling proudly, seeming to feel that she has declared the meal ready to commence. She points at hair bows and says, “bow,” runs to Daddy with an exuberant “dada!,” and says countless other words, including the one that makes Grandpa very proud and Grandma a bit envious: “Gram-pa.”
I love to watch her awareness grow. After we left big sister at preschool on the second day, we got back in the minivan. Lily looked over at her sister’s empty side of the minivan, and I could see her deep in thought. I thought that she was missing her sister and going to say “Emma,” but instead, she said, “backpack.” I laughed as I realized that she was commenting that Emma took the backpack with her.
She understands many commands now and helps clean up when I tell her she has to put books and toys back. She is beginning to enjoy books even more, looking at them on her own for longer than she is willing to look at them with me. Her favorites are touch and feel and lift the flap books. She continues to smile a lot, cry if she gets her feelings hurt, recover quickly from injury after declaring “boom! boom!,” and generally burn so many calories in a given day that it seems she will never reach the elusive twenty pounds.
As tiring as this age is for both of us, I wouldn’t trade it for any other. It is a gift to watch a human being grow from the time she was too tiny to see inside of me to the time when she is too big to sit still any more. It is toddler time at our house, and I am yawning from exhaustion but never from boredom. In short, life is good.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Toddler Time
There is something about a toddling tot, a wobbly walker, which makes you start seeing that your baby isn’t a baby anymore. That is the case at our house, for Lily has turned in her bare feet for walking shoes, has given up stroller sitting for eager exploration, has tested our home for baby proofness and tested the limits of just how high and far she’s allowed to wander now that she has two capable legs and a mind of her own. Last month, I had a sweet baby girl. This month, it’s toddler time, and I am just trying to keep up. It’s easy to be excited, hard not to be nostalgic, and honestly, extremely exhausting. My days consist of accident management, of trying to minimize bruising while allowing discovery. It’s wonderful to see her learn about the world, but I am very grateful she waited until fifteen months to walk across a room, as I find this stage a challenge. I waiver between hovering and holding her back and letting go and letting her bruise. It’s a tough balancing act. She is fearless, trying to make her way up rock climbing walls at the park, to attempt anything she sees big sister do, and to keep up with kids three times her size.
In many ways, this is an incredible age. I get to finally see more of what my child is thinking, where she wants to go of her own accord, how she will react when confronted with new experiences that she can run toward or run away from. On the other hand, I have to discipline more, set boundaries, and teach her how to react in a way that is kind toward herself and others. It is no small task, and it makes me remember when I had a small lump who mostly needed snuggles and unconditional love. Somehow, I forget that those snuggles often occurred at 3:00 a.m.
When I think of how exhausting it is to start a new job, learn a sport for the first time, or do something outside of my comfort zone, I am absolutely in awe of what it must be like to be little Lily. Much of her day consists of trying to acquire a new skill, learning how a new procedure works, and working to make sense out of something that forces her to grow. No wonder babies need a lot of sleep, easily cry in frustration, and seem to swing from a smile to a scream in a second. Toddler time is tiring!
Although exhausting, it is also exhilarating to watch. Along with being on the move, Lily has so many other fun new skills. She is adorable pretend playing with her big sis. Emma will ask her to “come play grocery store,” and she will quickly go to her assigned seat in our living room, sit in a tiny area between the back of a chair and the wall, and pretend to go to the grocery store. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding along with her imagination. She will hold a play phone or any object up to her ear and say “hu-llo” in the most adorable accent. When holding a baby, she snuggles and pats it and says, “bah-bee.” She quickly picks up upon cues when people are leaving and says, “buh-bye.” I showed her my ankle this morning, and then she pointed at her own, saying, “ankle.” When we sit down at a meal, she folds her hands and says, “Ah-men” while smiling proudly, seeming to feel that she has declared the meal ready to commence. She points at hair bows and says, “bow,” runs to Daddy with an exuberant “dada!,” and says countless other words, including the one that makes Grandpa very proud and Grandma a bit envious: “Gram-pa.”
I love to watch her awareness grow. After we left big sister at preschool on the second day, we got back in the minivan. Lily looked over at her sister’s empty side of the minivan, and I could see her deep in thought. I thought that she was missing her sister and going to say “Emma,” but instead, she said, “backpack.” I laughed as I realized that she was commenting that Emma took the backpack with her.
She understands many commands now and helps clean up when I tell her she has to put books and toys back. She is beginning to enjoy books even more, looking at them on her own for longer than she is willing to look at them with me. Her favorites are touch and feel and lift the flap books. She continues to smile a lot, cry if she gets her feelings hurt, recover quickly from injury after declaring “boom! boom!,” and generally burn so many calories in a given day that it seems she will never reach the elusive twenty pounds.
As tiring as this age is for both of us, I wouldn’t trade it for any other. It is a gift to watch a human being grow from the time she was too tiny to see inside of me to the time when she is too big to sit still any more. It is toddler time at our house, and I am yawning from exhaustion but never from boredom. In short, life is good.
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