WELCOME TO THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!
A toddler, by definition, is somebody who gets up on his feet and walks. The word toddler is a combination of the Scottish words todder and waddle, and it refers to the awkward way that babies get up and walk like drunken sailors, with their legs spread apart, arms held up in the air, and with lots of lurching around.
As you’ll soon discover, there are many wonderful aspects of life with a toddler, including his boundless energy, passion for exploring the world, spontaneous expressions of affection and clever shenanigans, and leaving babyhood behind as he continues on toward becoming an independent child.
As his sense of self and boundaries begin to take shape, there will be times when your toddler is likely to throw tantrums, to refuse to eat what you put before him, to stiffen and adamantly resist being strapped into his stroller or car seat, to be extremely upset because you can’t read his mind, and to refuse to share his toys with his playmates. These are all typical behaviors for this incredible and very unique stage in the human life span.
Your toddler’s language skills will leap from only one or two words at 12 months to a huge vocabulary of 900 to 1,000 words (or more) by the end of these momentous two years, and he will ultimately be able to speak short, intelligible sentences that are completely understandable. Physical skills will evolve from barely being able to stand up and take a few wobbly first steps to running, jumping, climbing, and kicking. Skills in every other area of his life will also be making quantum leaps forward.
Not only are you going to have the opportunity to introduce your toddler to a lot of wonderful new experiences, but he’ll be teaching you lessons, too—the luxury of slowing down to watch a caterpillar cross the sidewalk, the fun of splashing in mud puddles with abandon, the art of creating shapes from damp sand, and then smashing them—all primal joys of childhood.
Hopefully, parenting your toddler will also be teaching you indelible lessons about loving and being human. You’ll learn about showing affection and giving spontaneous hugs, thinking really fast on your feet and paying attention to two things at once, cultivating more patience, laying out plans and then letting them go, and communicating clearly in the simplest words possible. Best of all, you’ll learn that you’re stronger than you think you are, that you should trust your gut instincts, and that you have the power to “keep on keeping on” even when you’re so tired that you’re nearly cross-eyed, because you care so much about your little one.