The Terrible... Ones?

Forget the terrible twos. I'm starting to think the term "terrible ones" would be more appropriate. Or maybe just "terrible toddlerhood" in general. Not that I think my son is "terrible" by any means. But lately, he's been, erm, pretty expressive. I like to think he's experimenting with how to react to his emotions. Maybe it's teething related, but I haven't seen any new teeth come through yet (he's had his four incisors for a while now). It seems to me that ever since he started walking and "talking" (although it's still mostly babbling), he is Mr. Independent and suddenly knows what he wants and when he wants it. And if you don't help him achieve whatever goal he has at that moment, well, then he's going to throw a fit until he a) gets his way, b) is distracted by something else, or c) gets a good nap in. Oh, and that's another thing. We've crossed into the territory where naps are highly important and they don't just happen spontaneously. Colin is a creature of habit who thrives on his routine. When it's time to go to sleep, he needs "puppy," a paci, and his white noise. The good news is, when we lay him down and set the ambiance of his room for naptime, he happily puts himself to sleep. So there is that.

However. During his waking hours, he's become your average unpredictable toddler. When we take him out somewhere, there's no telling what our outing will be like. Sometimes he is a perfect angel, pointing at random objects and babbling on about them, and at other times, he HATES the restaurant high chair, hates the people around him, and just wants to get DOWN so he can walk around and say hi to strangers.


I don't know why I'm surprised by these things. I've been around toddlers and I know how they are. I just always thought the tantrums wouldn't start so dang early, you know? Oh, well. I feel like Justin and I are doing a pretty good job of parenting our sometimes unpredictable (but insanely cute) almost- 15 month old little boy. And you know what? The snuggles we get at the end of each day make it all totally worthwhile.


Do you have an expressive little one? Do tell!