Anyway, she still wants to be moving all of the time, but the whining and begging to be picked up, which was the WORST part by FAR, has gotten a lot better. And, she will play alone occasionally now, provided one of us is in the general area and the dogs don't get up in her bidness ("MOVE, BUDDIES! MOOOVE!")
"Put an object, if you can, on the cutting board or in the pan! Put an object, if you can, on the cutting board or in the pan!" I would like to put an object on the cutting board or in the pan, and that object is a GRENADE! GAH!
Her "bike". That handle thingee is cool in theory, but in practice we are not allowed to touch it, OBV. She does not require our Parental Guidance!
Also, she eats just about anything now, including...uh, PUSH-UPS. All natural! Particularly that orange color!
LOOK AT THESE! Effing SHOX for the love of god! Can you BELIEVE these? (you: yes. yes, we can, Sporty Spice)
So, overall, things are about 148% more awesome now than just a few short months ago. For whatever reason, I wasn't really prepared for that 18-month thing. You always hear about "getting through the first year", and the "terrible twos" and how "three is worse than two", but no one says BOO to you about the second year, even though I thought it contained some of the most heinous parenting shit so far.
Still, in general, I am liking each older age better. One thing I didn't take into account when I was thinking about having a kid was how funny kids can be. I like funny. Funny is a big-time coping mechanism for me (YOU DON"T SAY, TESSIE!). I thought I would be a baby person, but here's the thing: babies aren't all that funny. They are CUTE and some are cuddly, but they don't BOO heartily or clap enthusiatically during American Idol. They don't walk into their daycare classroom, lift up their skirt and happily screech "BUTT!", while showing off their new monogrammed bloomers.
There's a lot of great internet writing (by the emotionally UN-crippled) about being ready to have kids, and people's thoughts before and after having kids, and for what it's worth, I'd like to add my two cents, which is: if you are funny and silly by nature, and you value those things in your life and in other people, I think you might be surprised at how you'll do as a parent.
So, BRING IT, older ages!
Yeah, yeah," just wait until DOT DOT DOT", I know. Haters.
43 comments:
It does get better and better! Personally, thinking about that infant stage with the crying and sleep schedules and nursing makes me sick to my stomach (good timing, right??).
Even with Lucy being a huge handful right now, I just think she is the greatest, and Bud was at this age as well. I'm pretty sure that 2.5 is my favorite.
This post makes me feel SO MUCH BETTER about my ability to parent in the future. THANK YOU.
Even the difficult times are awesome when you keep in mind that it won't be long until you realize they're getting so big, and what happened to bedtime fussing...I try to enjoy every. single. moment.
I never wish for time to move along so we can get to the next stage. The stages already go too quickly. :)
good god, that's a freaking adorable kid.
i'm pretty sure i like them when they're still portable. like when i can pick them up and make them go where i want them to go. independence = BAAD.
I too love each older age (probably until puberty then I have a feeling the graphed chart of love will steadily begin to fall to the level of "brand new baby OMG how do I cope".)
I always feel bad for saying that because most people are all "OHH the baby hold the baby don't you love babies?!" ME: "AH no. But thanks for asking and making feel like crap for not thinking this..."
I seriously have always joked that if I could skip to age 5 I would do it in some ways. Of course I love my child and have enjoyed each moment of his life but yeah THREE is way cool and he is funny as all get out and OMG the kid can pee by himself and totally play on his own and I am not required to be a milk truck 24/7 heaven help me with ALL this freedom (that will shortly end...)
I say it is like many other parenting things... it is OKAY not to be a baby person just as it is okay to be a baby person.
Each stage has its own good bits and challenging bits. I've got a 7, an almost 5 and a 2 and I find them all hilarious.
I wish you would write more about parenting, because if there's anyone who would tell it like it is, and do so in a hilarious way, it's you.
Oh, something I've been pondering: does AD have the Boston accent?
P.S. She is the cutest kid ever. She takes after you, obviously.
P.P.S. I hope I didn't scare you away with my last email. I got the Nervous Tummy after I hit send.
The whole "put an object, if you can..." bit, is that something her toy kitchen says? If so, pull out the batteries. Now!
Oooh, good to know it probably won't be as bad as I hear it is. I might just have to get on that whole having a baby thing. Or, you know, maybe just not yet. But then I would have someone to buy those day-of-the-week undies for. But then you have to go through the whole diaper stage first. But...
Yeah, still not ready, I suppose. But I am looking forward to that point when they go from baby to little person with their own personality (eventually...)
So much cute!
I totally live for funny children! My favorite sprog moments are funny sprog moments. For REAL!
Shauna-It's hard to tell about the accent, because ALL toddlers have a Boston accent. They are not so much with the Rs.
Also, do not get the nervous tummy when I don't respond to emails! It's usually because I SUCK and/or didn't remember that it required a response! No worries!
MBM-Yeah, the kitchen "lady" says it. I should have never put batteries IN, but I think she would miss it now. She LOVES pressing those buttons. Argg.
This post was so good! Also, your kid is freakin CUTE.
J is 18 months right now and DOES NOT want to be held, in fact MUST WALK AT ALL TIMES, to the point of trying to throw herself headfirst out of my arms onto the concrete if I DARE to walk out of the house CARRYING her. The only time she MUST BE HELD is when I'm trying to make dinner. They KNOW. And they do it ON PURPOSE.
But yeah, funny. They all are. And when they're teenagers, they get SARCASTIC. Since that's what I relate best to, I LOVE IT!
I like the older age as well. You can actually interact with them and hold some what inteligent conversations!
Ha ha ha ha love it. Also love the pix. That is one cute Mofo you got there, Tessie.
We're currently at 6 and 3, and I'm rocking on 3 except for the "I live, therefore I test parental boundaries and/or any and all edicts issuing therefrom" part. I rock on 6, but it's different now--he has his own life (*sniff*).
As to funny, and undies, a related story: my girl's doing the operation undergarment freedom thing these days, to the point where we have to run an undies check before leaving the house--last week we showed up at daycare and I realized that the reason that dress looked so very seamless and free-flowing was that it was. Erg.
She is such a cutie! And those shoes are too precious.
I totally agree - I enjoy parenting an older child SO MUCH MORE than a baby. I mean, my 4-month-old is cute and adorable (duh) but she doesn't really DO much. By comparison, my 5-year-old son is constantly cracking me up by saying things such as "Yeah, I eat off the floor. THAT'S HOW I ROLL."
That little apron is TO DIE FOR. And her chin! Love her chin.
I am really happy to read a post about how thrilled and maybe surprised you are at how much fun you are having. I never think of having kids or kids in general as fun. I am going to try to take a gander at it from this viewpoint for a bit.
The daycare story lit me right up.
Also - Melospiza - too funny about the underpants!
You know what I wish those talking toys had is VOLUME CONTROL. NONE of them have it. NONE! WHY? WHY I ASK?
I love this post. It's all AD all cute all the time. Awesome!
Older is better. Right up until FIFTEEN and then you want to KILL them. If mine didn't come out with the occasional funny? I'd be writing this from DEATH ROW for MURDER!
Ah...but what they don't tell you is that the 'terrible twos' are really more about the 2nd year of life! Our doc said they kick in around 15 months old or so. My daughter will be three in July and has been pretty easy going for quite some time now. Yes, we have occasional tantrums and whining/clinging but it's few and far between now. I think the biggest thing is how much kids can verbalize their wants/needs. The more they can communicate with us the less they freak out about things...usually!
Your daughter is adorable and I LOVE her little apron!
And, yes, kids are SO funny! Mine make me laugh way more often than they make me want to rip my hair out!
LOVE the pictures!!! Push-ups rock, I couldn't get enough of those as a kid. Her Shox are awesome!!
Did you absolutely lose it when she did the "butt" thing??? That is so hilarious!!!
This was a very cute post! And true! Our baby is 1, and I remember thinking I didn't want him to get any bigger than when he was 2 months old. Um, boring. Much more fun now. But also, much more 'non-sitting-still'. You put it in such great words though - thanks!
I say boo about the second year! I totally do! My least favorite stage is Mobility (which for my low-tone, laid-back babies is about age 11 months) until age 2.5. I hate that stage. It's a little long to be a "stage."
AD is so cute.
I have always gravitated towards the older nieces and nephews, while H LOOOOOOVES babies. Hopefully when we have a kid H will take care of it until age 2 or so, and then I will take over when it is potty-trained. Just kidding. Kind of.
That picture of AD in the apron makes my heart all soft and gooey. SO ADORABLE.
She is adorable in that little apron!! And my husband is very silly/funny by nature, so I can't wait to see him when our son gets old enough to goof off :)
Since nobody joined in the fun of filling in your blanks - allow me. Sure she is cute now and gets cuter and funnier, but you just wait until puberty and the teenage years. THEN you call me and we'll talk. Oh, but wait until afte she's graduated from college, which you lovingly paid for, and then decides to come home, live with you forevah and not use her degree for finding a job but decides to work full time as a personal trainer making $7.50 an hour. Yea, call me when she is 25 and we'll talk how cute and funny she is... I know, I'm a hater...
(Disclaimer: this comment is made in jest, and in no way is to be used to imply that I believe AD will be a total slacker in adulthood - LMAO)
OMG that kitchen lady made me nuts! My husband "accidentally" backed into it with the truck and now her voice doesn't work at all (unless you're on hallucinogens) - darn...
Also, "take the batteries out" - doh! That would have been so much easier!!
When I met my friend Angela and her baby, it made me really value the need to have a sense of humor as a parent. Unlike a lot of other new mom friends of mine, she is much more able to laugh and roll with the baby punches and NOT worry about guidelines and timelines and all that. I used some mommyblog baby terminology on her and she totally didn't know what it meant. I was impressed.
You're right on about it getting easier and easier. Of course everyone has rained on my parade as my daughter approaches 11 and said that the teen years will be living hell...
P.S. Dooce is going to be on the Today show tomorrow morning to be interviewed about Mommy blogging. Be sure to set your tivo.
Those freaking Nike Shox?! I can't even deal. She is ridiculously cute.
I HAVE to know where you got that apron for her!!!
Cute, cute, cute!!! Love the Shox!!
At age 2 my daughter was AWESOME!! Hilarious, charming, learning SO MUCH, almost always a pleasure.
Age 3 hit? Ugh.
I, too, am a fan of the "each stage is better than the last" line of thinking. And I LOVE THE SHOES! Need to get LD some; she wants to "run wiff momma, puhlease."
Farrell, my grandmother made it for her. I think (in THEORY) they are easy to make, it's just one piece of cloth, cut out and sewn around the edges.
I mean, *I* don't make shit like that, but *YOU* probably could.
I LOVe that first picture with the mini kitchen. You forgot to talk about the cute factor! It goes up as does the funny part! I like this age too. I am not enthusiastic about the so called terrible 2s or 3s or whatever either.
Love the wee little apron. She is ridiculously cute.
A-to the fucking-MEN, Sister!!!
I was not a fan of 15-20 months. At all. Not a fan. Closer to 2, I started to like my kid again. Hallelujah!!
RE: Apron.
I mean, *I* don't make shit like that, but *YOU* probably could.
No, I totally could not but thanks for thinking the best of me! I can't even sew on a fucking button.
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