No, Son, You Can't Take EVERY Toy You Own With You...

With only a few short weeks until my sweet little boy turns two-and-a-half, I have noticed some real changes in my toddler's personality and demeanor. While some things are definitely annoying, all have been a welcomed addition to my child's awesomeness. I am loving having this new independent, sometimes stubborn, but always busy, toddler running around. It's really cool to watch his personality, preferences and vocabulary develop on a daily basis. Here are a few of his new behaviors...

1. He INSISTS on taking as many toys as he can carry with him every time we leave the house. I've had to let him take his Thomas rolling back-pack on a few occasions just so we could leave the house with everything he insisted on taking! It's not like he has fear that his siblings will steal them, you know, not having any siblings and all. It's not like they have EVER vanished while we were away, I know, I pray for it sometimes. In fact, there have been occasions when we have come home from running errands and thanks to the HUGE mess, I have thought for a split second we have had a break-in, then I remember, we left the house like that! There is no other answer other than, my kid is a hoarder...

2.  Fearless. 100% Fearless. Last weekend, we took Ollie to a church carnival that had rides. Ollie could barely contain himself.  He wanted to ride EVERY ride.  So what did we do? Let him. At one point, while he was smiling at the top of the Ferris Wheel with FTD by his side, I thought, OH CRAP! Are we totally instilling a love of heights and fast rides into our kid WAY too early?  You know the whole, what he doesn't know... can't give us heart attacks? or something like that... He is a dare devil, always has been, and I'm terrified he always will be.  I wonder if I can just buy a suite at the children's hospital? 
Look, Ma, NO hands!

3. Entertained by his own image. My kid is in love with himself.  While most kids are asking their parents to play games on their phone, my kid is asking to, "See Ollie?!" The minute he gets my phone in his hot little toddler hands, he goes right to my photos and videos and spends the next five-minutes looking and laughing at himself. Not sure if I should be concerned, but for now, I'll happily take that five-minutes of quiet toddler free terrorizing.

4. The toddler is OBSESSED with water and car washes. Yes, you read right, CAR WASHES! My son begs to watch car washes on YouTube, and every chance he gets, give his own cars a car wash.  This is the most annoying of his new things.  Every time I turn my back on him, he is off to the bathroom sink to give his cars a car wash. The minute we go outside, he goes right to the hose holding a handful of cars begging me to turn it on. He refuses to take a bath without his cars... you get the idea, it is car wash central around here.

5. Still my little baby. I am so thankful that as he gets older, he is still a momma's boy. In fact, even more so! He wants more cuddles lately, stays a little closer to me, and always makes sure I am watching him. And the best, best, best part of it, he comes to me and gives me unsolicited hugs, kisses, cuddles and "I love yous" all the time.



What's your little one up to?

April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com