Toddler

Toddler

Do we need to start calling our daughter a toddler? We don’t know if we are ready to start calling her that, but toddler she just may be. In all honesty, we are having a bit of a hard time with calling her a toddler.  She will always be our baby, but is she a toddler now? We are coming to the realization that yes, she is a toddler. She is such a littler person now.

There seem to be two categories for when to call your little one a toddler. Either when they start “toddling” because they walk like little penguins in the way the sway back and forth, or your child is over a certain age and under the age of 3 years old. That certain age seems to have some wiggle room for when the name toddler can begin to be used anywhere from 1 year old to 18 months old.

Just when is a baby a toddler?

She is trying her best to be able to communicate with us, whether it is through baby sign language, pointing at things, or using the words she has. She is communicating beyond just crying.  Talking is more definitely something that separates toddlers from babies. It seems that you are trying your hardest to get words out. Sometimes it seems like you are trying so hard to get sentences out, thoughts that you want shared.

All of the teeth that she has coming in are making her look so much more grown up. Add in that she loves to brush her own teeth and we feel like we have a much older child. We miss her gummy little smile, but those teeth make it so cute in a whole other way.

She is all about food, and definitely has her likes and dislikes. How dare we try to help her! That just cannot happen. We recently got her a set of cutlery just for her with pudgy little handles that are easier for her little fingers to hold on to.

You know who you love to be around, and it seems like you definitely have your favourite people already whether they be older, or even much younger than you. We love seeing you wave to these people to say hello, or when you walk over to some and signal for them to pick you up because you want cuddles from them or to just relax on their lap.

Oh the tantrums. Who decided to call it the terrible twos? Either we are getting glimpses of the future of that, or it started very early for her, just shortly after her 1st birthday. We are being treated to some epic moments already. Which has of course lead to conversations about how we as her parents want to handle them. We feel like this came all to soon. (More on this in another post soon)

Then there is the obvious that she is walking, and definitely has the funny little penguin “drunk baby” waddle down pat. She is already trying to run it seems, and will just go as a fast as she can. Sometimes her little feet cannot keep up with the rest of her. She has gotten some great bumps and bruises from working on mastering this skill. It still amazes us when she just suddenly pushes a door open, and wanders into or out of a room. She has grown so much, and when we see her do this, we also still see the little tiny lady we brought home from the hospital.

We suppose it is time… we have a toddler.

I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
my baby you’ll be.
– Robert Munsch