10 Terrific Things about Toddlers

Miranda has grown and changed so much in the past few months. She's certainly moved from baby stage into a toddler. And while that comes with a whole new set of challenges, it's a whole lot of fun too. Here are ten things I enjoy about this new personality of my baby, I mean 'kid'. (She's 20 months old)

1) MEMORY
Whenever we go to the park Miranda plays with the blue swing and points at the black one calling it 'Caelie!' This is because Caelie played with us at the park 3 months ago, and used that swing! Today I grabbed a pair of brown shoes for her and she said 'Al-la' which means her cousin Alice who has the same pair of shoes!

2) WORD POWER
This kid learns new words EVERY day. It's astonishing. This evening (in the 3 hours between supper and bed) she learned 'bunny', 'wait', 'hiding', and 'Barney' and used them each repeatedly and correctly. We think she's up to over 100 words, and increasing by the hour.

3) AFFECTION
Miranda has been very un-affectionate her whole life. Since she could hold up her head, she hasn't rested it willingly on any shoulder. But recently she started giving more hugs and blowing lots of kisses. I love to see her hugging her dolly and even Jack the dog! Of course Mommy and Daddy hugs are the best :-)

4) INDEPENDENCE
She loves to try to put on her own socks and shoes; has even succeeded with one shoe one time! She's into climbing things now too, since she just got tall enough to get onto the chairs and couch. If something is too tricky to climb up, she'll walk to the bathroom and carry the little stool out for assistance.

5) FAVORITISM
Miranda has firmly established her favorite toy, tv show, snack, book, youtube video, etc. Some things change weekly, but some have lasted a long time - like the Brown Bear book, her purple blankie, and on-line videos of cats. Her memory of these things is impeccable. (She sings {la-la} along to the song in the cat video - which is in Japanese).

6) HELPFUL
Doing laundry, dishes and dusting is much more fun now that I have little hands to help. Miranda is pretty good at putting clothes in the dryer (even straight out of her own drawers) and getting the Tupperware to the cabinet (after banging them on the floor for awhile. I do appreciate her fetching my towel when I get out of the shower!

7) BRAVERY
Within the last month she's started climbing kid-size stairs on feet, going down the slide by herself and even dangling from the bars on the playground. Of course, the trade-off here is now she won't LET Mom help even though she's not always stable.

8) VOCAL
I picked her up from daycare one day and asked, 'How was she today?' The answer was, "Loud. Not naughty, just very noisy." That's most days, she babbles and talks and sings and shouts pretty much all the time. Annoying when you're on the phone, pretty adorable most other times.

9) INTERACTIVE
I am loving all the games and songs and toys Miranda and I can play together now. She's really into cooperative play with parents or little friends. This evening we figured out a simplistic hide-and-seek (hence learning the words 'wait' and 'hiding') and played until Mommy was exhausted from running around the house and being found every 20 seconds!

10) AWE
Despite all the things she's learned, we still find something brand new almost everyday. Then I get to watch Miranda take it in with her eyes (and mouth, and mind) wide open. This weekend it was lots of new and funny animals at the zoo. This morning it was a great thunderstorm with lots of noisy rain. I love the look on her face when she's discovering something new!

All in all, we are still really enjoying our little girl. But that's not to say that parenting is all roses, and a toddler will highlight that quickly! So my second list is 1 Terrible Toddler Trait.

1) STUBBORN
Her intense independence and devotion to only her favorite things magically combines with her Vocal powers to produce full-on meltdown tantrums pretty much everyday. Whether it's not wanting to leave the park, eat that vegetable, or let Mommy finish an e-mail she will make her anger painfully known to everyone within a 1-block radius. (It's a good thing she's learning to hug, so Mommy doesn't lose it, huh?)

Thanks for reading my list. If you have/had kids, what do/did you love about their toddler days?