Observations from a new Parent of a Toddler: Approaching the 2-year mark
Babies are still big fat liars even as they get older
Literally, big(ger) than when they were born and fat… so chubbily cute that you can’t help but laugh through your frustration at how they do things like refuse to nap when they CLEARLY NEED TO NAP.
(Rubbing their eyes, yawning, unbelievably whiny and irritating.. all signs of requiring to nap)
They start wanting everything you have / want no matter what it is
Have food to eat?
They want some. Whatever it is. Then you try and offer some to them, and they refuse to eat it because it looks strange.
BABIES.
Cutting up raw vegetables to cook?
They’re there in the kitchen, mouth open, shifting from one leg to another (or stomping their feet) and making cute and sometimes not so cute noises that indicate that they are interested in what is on your chopping board even if it is raw onions or hot peppers.
Have a book in your hand?
They want to touch it, flip the pages, gum it, etc.
Have any piece of technology you are using to film them, take pictures or work?
They want it. All of it.
And all the other gadgets you have lying around too.
Baby Bun at one point had in one paw “his” iPod (an old one of mine), my iPod Touch which I use to organize my life, and he was making a grab while securing his current possessions-stolen-from-Mommy for my Kobo Glo ebook reader!
They are even more independent and cuter than you can imagine
Honestly. Still chubby. Great fat little thighs to nibble on and squeeze, or chubby cheeks to kiss until they swat you away with a chubby little paw.
They have personalities beginning to develop, and you start seeing if they are fearless, cautious, independent, dependent, etc.
…and with independence, they assert their rights to refuse to sleep
See point #1 about being Liar McLiarsons.
…however you can kind of assert your own iron-parenting-will and refuse to give in
Took me 4 naps and 4 tries to have Baby Bun learn that when Mommy says “time to nap”, it means IT IS TIME TO NAP.
I had to drag him back to his bed multiple times, endure shrieks like I was torturing him in the gulag, and tears streaming down his face all because he didn’t think he was in any position to nap.
Again, see point #1 about them being fat liar McLiarsons.
Now, I have managed to get him to at least go somewhat willingly to his bed to nap, I cover him with his blanket, give him his snuggly teddy bear and tell him: “Time to nap”.. and he will close his eyes to nap.
Bedtime is another story. I am still working on this one.
They are frustratingly different at daycare
When you hear daycare workers talk about my son, you would think he is the kindest, sweetest, most amazing child ever and they’re speechlessly amazed at how GOOD HE IS.
EVERY. DAYCARE WORKER has stopped me and said: Oh you’re Baby Bun’s Mommy? He is SO GOOD. He is so cute, sweet, and such, such, SUCH a good, adaptable baby.
Me: Are you talking about.. MY child? My shrieking, sometimes banshee-like dinosaur-noise-making child who refuses to nap, eat his dinner and get his diaper changed willingly?
They act like angels in different environments (e.g. surrounded by other children so they’re confused as to what to do and how to act), and since they feel way more comfortable with their parents (at home), they feel more comfortable enough to act up, act out, and shriek like a pterodactyl when they don’t get their way.
It’s like I am picking up the demon-sized version of my toddler at daycare. He’s an angel there, and a demon (sometimes) at home.
He is incredibly helpful at this age
I’m encouraging this. It takes forever, but I have him help me close the doors, pick up things, recycle papers, push the laundry basked to put away his diapers and he even hands hangers to my partner while he is doing his clothes.
I am really, REALLY encouraging this. I hear this Helper Stage doesn’t last long. We’ll see.
He understands more than I think
This morning was terrible.
He was whiny and wanting me to play with him and do stuff but I was trying to just brush my teeth and it was becoming very, VERY annoying with his constant, grating whine.
I turned, I looked at him, sternly said in a very firm voice:
Can Mommy just brush her teeth? In silence? SILENCE? SI-LENCE? Can you be quiet and patient?
I kind of didn’t expect it to work and expected to have to haul him off to go “be with your father, I can’t look at you right now”…
He actually stopped whining, looked at me, and waited 5 minutes without a single peep (he whimpered here and there but I just gave him THE EYE), and he patiently-ish, watched me brush my teeth and floss.
After I did all that, I leaned down, gave him a huge hug and a kiss and went to play with him, explaining that sometimes Mommies need to do things and it is not all about Baby Bun all the time.
He makes your heart melt even if was only 15 minutes ago that he was driving you mad
Even though they’re super rude and sneeze right in your face without covering their mouths or cough into their food before trying to feed it to you, they are incredibly heartstoppingly sweet.
I miss him terribly when I am not with him.
Then when I am with him, sometimes I have to hide in a closet to calm down.
(True story.)
.. but 90% of the time, I am trying to enjoy this stage. I know it will not last long. I am trying to soak up all of his babyness as much as possible and to think that one day, he will no longer be my chubby little toddler, but a full-grown adult.
OMG. I’m going to turn out to be one of those heinous mother in laws where no woman is ever good enough for him.
I hope not.
Or.. maybe I do hope so 😉
Julie says:
lol gosh my little one is the same thing, he’s 15 mths old now and is super well behaved at daycare. Yet at home, the moment he sees me, all the clinginess and “whininess” come out!!! Sigh. I can’t get enough of all the snuggles:)
save. spend. splurge. says:
Angels in one place, demons in another. But they are really, REALLY cuddly at this age. I’m soaking up all the cuddles.
Revanche says:
No no if no woman is good enough for him then you’re missing out on finding a great partner for him and you’ll be stuck with him being a 60-year old mama’s boy!
Besides I have personal experience with being fed up to THERE with that kind of person and believe you me, I was plenty good enough for their son. But he wasn’t good enough for me in the end, especially clinging to his mommy’s skirts, so byebye! 😉
But they are the biggest liars. Not tired! Not sleepy! Not not not zzzzzz…. Yeah. Right.
And everything you touch is a Must Have because You Had It! Baby logic is so strange.
Though I think it’s funny that LB doesn’t change at all in new environments, even without us. Mostly the same ole kid motoring around checking things out, tasting everything. Super into food and adults 🙂 the daycare people are kind of horrified how much ze eats sometimes. What can you do?
Oh and ze gets totally spoiled. There, they pick hir up all the time any time ze asks. Ze gets home and it’s back to Mom rules: you can crawl, get your butt over there on your own. And ze wails the cry of the betrayed. And I stand firm, nope. You can practically walk, get going. It’s funny to see how ze is processing: so…. We do this at home, we don’t do this at home.
save. spend. splurge. says:
OK okay, thank you for reminding me 😉
I think I’d be fair in assessing a daughter in law. I wouldn’t be some random crazy MIL….
The daycare people were also horrified at how much Baby Bun ate. I mean they said: I thought this was for an ADULT! BUT HE ATE IT ALL. He packed it ALL AWAY.
Me : er… *deep blush*.. He’s my baby?
At the daycare they pick him up all the time too and cuddle him. I do less of that at home, he doesn’t whine AS MUCH for it.
I noticed that a lot of parents carry their kids though, even at this age. I refuse to do it. I hold his hand and make him walk, even if it takes forever. I hold his hand, he walks, that’s it.
Then the parents notice me making him walk and they ALL say to their kid after seeing Baby Bun: OH! .. Would YOU like to walk? .. and they set their kid down on the ground to walk.
Me: Yep. Saving parents’ backs .. one at a time.
Revanche says:
@save. spend. splurge.: Yeah you wouldn’t be crazy like that. But I think there’s something about that mentality that will always always grate because I have never seen a MIL who was sane and also felt that way.. Maybe it’s the poison that turns them wacky if they hold onto it past a reasonable stage? Like, yeah we’re all going to 1000% love our kids. But at some point we have to walk the walk and actually let them make mistakes and learn from them, and I think those parents don’t.
Yeah, LB is always on the ground, and people have to ask my permission to pick hir up when ze wants it because they’re like oh. Uh, so we don’t carry the baby everywhere. Hell, no we don’t! You crazy? You see how much ze eats??