A Toddler Week
Lucia, as I’ve written many times, is a sweet, fun baby, and for the past few months our days—with few exceptions—pass smoothly, full of outings and toys and books and giggling and the regular appearance of squealing, running Silly Baby. This was not the case two weeks ago when my parents came to keep me company while Andrew was in California for work.
Molly had come for the first part of the week, and Lucia immediately intuited her role of Easiest Baby in the World to speed the arrival of cousins. Molly was amazed at just how long Lucia can spend collecting stones at the playground. We even had an outing to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where Lucia bravely mixed in with bigger kids to play in the amazing water area. I had an hour-long call to take on one of the days, and Lucia played splendidly with Molly the whole time. By the end of the two days she was saying Mol-wee, and asked for her when she left.
Unfortunately, to get back to her normal-baby state, Lucia felt the need to overcompensate when Mom and Dad arrived. The highlight was the Worst Fit Ever, which of course took place in public, at the zoo. It was so massive, and so lengthy, that she tantrummed herself to sleep in her stroller and we had to walk home. Sigh. And ordinarily she loves the zoo, and had been talking all morning about seeing the “baboos” and feeding the sheep. There were other highlights as well, such as refusing to go to Target (that might have just been sanity; not sure) and exhibiting some terrible eating. She was not herself. …Unless I wasn’t there. When I left her for several hours for my ultrasound, she had a fine time.
Nonetheless, the week left me daydreaming about a time far off in the future when Lucia and her new sister are five and seven years old, with full understanding of reason, action/consequence, cause/effect, and other glorious ideas.
Molly had come for the first part of the week, and Lucia immediately intuited her role of Easiest Baby in the World to speed the arrival of cousins. Molly was amazed at just how long Lucia can spend collecting stones at the playground. We even had an outing to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where Lucia bravely mixed in with bigger kids to play in the amazing water area. I had an hour-long call to take on one of the days, and Lucia played splendidly with Molly the whole time. By the end of the two days she was saying Mol-wee, and asked for her when she left.
Unfortunately, to get back to her normal-baby state, Lucia felt the need to overcompensate when Mom and Dad arrived. The highlight was the Worst Fit Ever, which of course took place in public, at the zoo. It was so massive, and so lengthy, that she tantrummed herself to sleep in her stroller and we had to walk home. Sigh. And ordinarily she loves the zoo, and had been talking all morning about seeing the “baboos” and feeding the sheep. There were other highlights as well, such as refusing to go to Target (that might have just been sanity; not sure) and exhibiting some terrible eating. She was not herself. …Unless I wasn’t there. When I left her for several hours for my ultrasound, she had a fine time.
Nonetheless, the week left me daydreaming about a time far off in the future when Lucia and her new sister are five and seven years old, with full understanding of reason, action/consequence, cause/effect, and other glorious ideas.
Comments
And 5 is a GREAT age. 6,7,8 - terrible. Especially when you have girls. I am so sorry - you will see drama, whining, "woe is me" that overtakes all reasonable understanding and cause and effect. This is also the time they start to dislike hanging with their younger sibling every minute. LOL. So - ages 2,3,4 - bad. Age 5, good. Age 6,7,8 - bad. :)