Oh, Those Toddlers!
3 Big Reasons to Celebrate Your Little OneBy Alexandria Powell
Toddlers' boundless energy, enthusiasm and creativity can be a mixed blessing at times. "When my son Brendan was about 18 months old, he had a small wooden truck that he loved playing with," says Hinz. "One day he decided he wanted to get in the truck. He became more and more frustrated with each attempt to put his foot inside the two-inch cab." It took over an hour before Brendan gave up. "We couldn't reason with him [at all], and the scene elevated to wails until he fell asleep next to his beloved truck, of course."
But despite the frustration, this energy is part of what makes toddlers so much fun. "You can literally watch toddlers learning, watch how their wheels are turning all the time, how they are driven to figure out how the world works," says Lerner. "Toddlers are so engaged, so passionate, so eager to learn and so resourceful."
Lianne Takemori's daughter Ivy, 2, has a toddler's knack for making the best of an unexpected situation. "She leaned over and gave me a big kiss on the cheek, then backed up, tilted her head in what I thought was a tender gesture, swooped back in and licked the entire side of my face," says Takemori, of Jackson, Miss. "I yelled 'Ivy, what are you doing? We do not lick people!' She hung her head and started to whimper, 'But Mommy! I had to get the googies off your face!' She had had a runny nose and had slimed me as she kissed me!"
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