When Nolan turned one, all the books and websites on child development stated that he was officially a toddler. Joe and I refused to accept that information. Nolan was still crawling, was only speaking a few words in addition to the couple of signs he used, and he required a good amount of assistance at meals.
Little by little, it has become apparent to us that he is truly bridging the gap between "babyhood" and "toddlerhood." In June, just shy of 14 months, his few unassisted steps turned into a sweet little waddle. Soon he was running...
Then came the climbing. He was up on chairs, the couch, the back stairs, the glider in his room - everything was his Mt. Everest.
Then, of course, there's the tantrums....I have not enough energy to get into this topic.
At bath time this summer, we finally ditched the infant tub for the regular big tub. He was just getting too big for the tiny tub and it was warm enough that I didn't worry he'd get chilly too quickly. After that, he outgrew the sweet little hooded towels we received so many of as baby shower gifts. Now, he uses a regular bath towel like the rest of us in this household.
In August, per recommendation of our parent education professional from the Parents As Teachers program, we started making a list of the words he was saying. Not just repeating (although he does make a great parrot), but actually using. The list started at 4 or 5 besides "Mum-mum" and "Daddy," and we're now up to about 2 dozen.
Nolan has a special chore - feeding the dog. He now expertly dumps the cup of food into Buckley's bowl and we tell Buckley "Okay!" Nolan also delights in helping in other ways such as sweeping, dusting, and, his favorite, vacuuming.
He's started helping in other ways as well. A couple of times, Nolan has joined me in baking or cooking. This past weekend, he helped me make pumpkin cookies. It went surprisingly well! Since dumping things out is one of his favorite activities, he did well with dumping out the ingredients after I had measured them.
Now, he has 100% control of dishes, bowls, spoons, forks and sippy cups. Yes, sometimes he decides his hands make better utensils which is totally fine, and, yes, sometimes the forks, spoons, or bowls end up flying across the table or on the floor, but he is so independent now.
Then another change - one night at dinner, he threw a fit when I tried to put him in his high chair. He was kicking, grabbing my neck and doing everything he could not to be placed in that chair. This was strange behavior. He calmed down after a few minutes and I was able to finally get him in his chair. A few days later, it happened again. This time, Joe suggested we make the switch to booster seat. We got a great 2-in-1 high chair that you can take the seat off and use as a booster on a regular kitchen chair. So off came the tray, then the seat, and we buckled it to the kitchen chair. Happy as a clam, Nolan gladly climbed in his seat and ate dinner without any more issue. I sadly put the rest of the high chair away in the back room. Now, he'll run up to his chair at dinner time and say "My seat! Sit down!"
Sure, there's still times we're quickly reminded that Nolan is still our "baby." But, all too quickly, this little boy is growing up - and faster than I can keep up with! My busy, busy toddler.
It's bittersweet isn't it? We're obviously going through the same thing, but reading about Nolan going through it too makes it all too real.
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