Mothering a toddler

From Early March

Maia woke up at about 6:00 this morning, and is now right on time for her first nap (which doesn't really happen at a particular time, but rather is pretty predictable at two hours after she wakes up). I'm brewing a small pot of coffee for myself, and thinking about what it's like to be home all day with a toddler.

• So often, Maia can verbally communicate what she wants now, or what she's thinking about. She'll say "Ma-Mo" when she's thinking about Mona, or "Ball" when she's done eating and wants to play. It's cool to watch her be able to think about things that aren't right in front of her--quite a developmental leap forward from infanthood.
  
• She's developing a taste for the repetitive, particularly when it comes to books. Her current favorite: a board book I got her at Border's last week called Animal Talk. I think we read this book fifteen times yesterday. Honestly. She knows all the animal sounds and thus can "read" along with me. The cutest page: the sleeping polar bear at the end who says "night-night." Maia says "night-night" each time we read the page.
• She's very proud of her use of the word "No." Just this morning, she offered Brian one of her breakfast Cheerios. He said "No, thank you," but then changed his mind a couple of seconds later. When he asked her to share another Cheerio, she very emphatically said "No!" You snooze, you lose, Daddy.
• She's starting to develop some of the precursors to tantrum-type behavior. For example: if she's getting worn out and is ready for sleep, but you take her away from the activity she's doing, she'll start to arch her back and whine in a growling way. Her little voice can be all gravelly sometimes, and she makes the most of it when she's not happy. Also, just this week, she had her first "fit" of throwing bits of food on the floor when she was ticked off about something. This kid is developing some opinions.