[say cheeeese!]
this toddler stuff, oh all the toddlings! they’re so my favorite right now. even though i say that every age is my favorite… i feel like we’re in just a whole new chapter here, and a really fun one for me, as the Queen Mom Slave of the situation. [yes, i broke into caps for that title because, just because it is so real.] she’s funny and she’s happy and she’s gaining these sweet little bits of independence. she plays and pretends and communicates! she’s also a smidge of a sass-pot and i totally, totally respect that.
i know everyone’s situation is so different. for many, i think the toddler phase is probably a lot harder [well, in some ways it is, obviously!] because maybe they had those laaaid back babies who could be placed in bouncers [!!!], on beds [??!!], or in cribs [!!!!!?!!] and they would smile or go to sleep or something like that… i don’t know, i’m not quite familiar with that sort 😉 [and i was not/am not one of them, either]. then, i’m sure, next thing you know you’re chasing a toddler around all the time, and it can be so exhausting!
maddalena, though, she has been my loving little kangaroo baby from the start, always always in my arms, and i have loved most every bit of it. i mean, for all of her infancy i was truly okay with doing everything one-handed and sacrificing so many of my hot showers for every-now-and-then lukewarm baths with baby [madd’s rules were simple! glued to mommy = happy. not glued to mommy = not happy.]. i loved having an infant and knew it was all temporary, so i made it top priority to love it for what it was. plus, i am well aware that although she has a grin much like her daddy’s, she gets her full-on attachmenty personality from me, bless her soul… so with that considered, it wasn’t super hard for me. i love to cuddle and i hate being alone.
so then, this toddler thing! it kind of took me by surprise and made me a little emotional there for a good minute! somewhere around 17 months, maybe, it seemed so many of our habits and routines were suddenly tossed out the window in search of a stage she wasn’t quite ready for but was growing into… the babes, though, they change like seasons, only with less predictability… so, we shifted on into this new and more independent phase, and it’s become so much fun to feel like i’m doing things with her in a whole different kind of way. i get to watch her be a mini-human and enjoy that she enjoys it. i get to explain things to her and get all tickled when she actually understands. i get to be all cheesy and sentimental about every grownup, mini-me thing she does [she is currently sweeping the floor, as she got out the broom after spilling some dirt out of a plant.] i get to giggle with steven when she pulls out some of our moves or habits or words in her own tiny style. i get to help her come out of her shell, while knowing that she’s still not totally ready to not be my baby, and it’s all good and wonderful and okay!
[letting the music floooow]
[blowing her nose just because she can]
[giving me orders // wearing sunnies like a boss]
[workin’ it in the sunshine!]
also, this might be silly, but i really wondered before having a baby, you know, what do you do on those rare, occasional days where you wake up and you just can. not. do. it? those days where you’ve really hit your wall and you skip class/call in sick to work/leave the dishes in the sink/sit on the couch in your pjs and stare at a screen of reruns half the day in a desperate effort to turn your brain into a potato for the sake of mental health? it’s not that i’ve needed to have that many of those days in life, but they come around, yes? so, selfishly, i worried about that before maddalena was born, because i really just didn’t know… but what i’ve been surprised to find, for me, is that having a little one around has been such a relief from those times. there are mornings where i probably would wake up and deem the whole day un-doable before it’s even begun, but they just don’t quite happen in the same way when there are little noses and twinkly eyes and happy giggles to pull you from it. even the grumpy baby days [hey, teething! oh, hey teething and ear ache! oh, fun party, crampy tummy!] don’t give you a real chance to dwell on any of your own stuff for too long. you just keep on keepin’ on… and thank goodness for that! saved by the baby, it’s a pretty sweet deal.
anyway. while i’m so not ready for this tiny chick of mine to be too grown up, i am loving the extra little helping hands, the babbley chit chats, the hugs and kisses, all the personality, and the use of both my arms! well, most of the time, anyway. 🙂
toddlerhood, iii like ya. maddalena, i will smooch your whole face now.
Beautifully said. And of course beautiful Maddo!
Loved this. I feel like I just know you so well from your posts. It's true about not being able to dwell on those bad days. I know there are days when I can't understand why Scarlett woke up early and I have to pull myself out of bed to go get her, but when I do and when I see that sweet face all my irritations go out the window. There's nothing more special than that moment when your baby is just so happy to see you. I know what you mean 🙂
Also, I love how you love every stage. I say that, too 🙂
Such a beautiful post! I'm expecting my first in August and reading things like this help me prepare for the wonderful, crazy, tiring things to come. Xo, meg
Queen Mom Slave – that made me laugh 🙂
I love your love of the toddlerhood– it makes me look forward to that stage.. I know exactly what you mean about outgrowing one stage before really being ready for the next…. We're sort of in one of those transitions w/ eating… Outgrown being fed purees, but not ready to feed herself little bites of fingerfoods….. Soo.. we do both! 🙂
The pictures are adorbs!! (& love the one of her giving an order) 🙂
Wow she's all grown up now! Havent seen your blog for quite sometime and I can see the difference in her. She's definitely a cute toddler now. 🙂
Love this post! Especially the last little bit, maybe because I worry about that too haha