Even though I go to bed way earlier and stay in so much more often, I think that I have more fun as a parent than I did before. I have never spent so much time each day laughing out loud or stifling laughter at the amazingly cute or mischievous antics of my little one and the rest of the time playing games or making up ways to make daily chores into games. I definitely laugh a lot more since Sebby entered the the toddler stage. He makes us smile and laugh from the time he wakes up in the morning till right before going to sleep.
As I watch his little personality develop, I see character and personality traits that are all Darren, some that are all mine, some that are a mix of both Darren and I and some that are all Sebby! He's opinionated, independent and impatient. He knows what he wants and is very creative at making sure we know what he wants. His communication skills amaze me as I see him using words, signs and lots of fun expressions to get his point across. He does a great scowl, an awesome look of intense concentration and a serious look of confusion when he can't find something (coupled with raising both arms in an "i dunno" shrug). When he's surprised or when he surprises himself (like after he screams loudly) he says "ooohhh."
Focused on an important phone call
He loves animals and gets very excited when he sees cats, dogs or horses when we're walking outside. When I'm hanging our laundry on the line, he often sees a cat walking through the yard. He gets really loud shouting, "cat, cat, cat!" and if the cat leaves he points to where he goes saying "cat go, cat go," willing it to come back. If he sees the cat exit one corner of the yard one day, the next day he points to that same spot saying "cat go, cat go." He has an amazing memory! He tries to pat every dog he encounters. Thankfully dog owners in Glasgow love children approaching their pets!
Found a dog to pet at the Botanics!
He knows the signs for almost all the animals in his Noah's ark boat (chicken, giraffe, bear, alligator, hippo, zebra) as well as elephant and uses them whenever he encounters those animals in books or in real life. He can say cat, dog, bird and fish (sounds like "ish"...fish is a very difficult word to pronounce!) and calls other animals by their sounds, a cow is "moo", a lamb is "ba ba", a horse is "neigh." He even re-named his best-friend, stuffed toy Lamby. He is now called "Ba Ba."
When he sees or hears an emergency vehicle, he makes the sound effect "woo woo woo" while covering his ears and bobbing his head from side to side. If he's walking, he asks me to pick him up then covers my ears too. Always protective of mama!
Speaking of protecting mama, he likes to be able to keep an eye on me at all times. He gets quite upset if I'm in the bathroom with the door shut, especially showering in the morning. I usually sit him in his high chair in the bathroom while I shower but when Darren is home, he plays with him. On days like that, I often hear him crying "Mama!" at the door. When he thinks I'm hurt, he looks very concerned and often starts crying.
He doesn't need many toys because thinks of very fun games to play with ordinary household items like dumping all the clothespins on the ground then walking over them and pretending to make eggs with the little frying pan and spatula. He likes to help clean, sweeping the floor and using the shower door squeegee to clean the sides of the bath tub. He loves it when I forget to close the closet door so he can get in there to spin the wheels on our stroller or haul items out of the recycling bin. He also LOVES putting things into the trash and taking out the trash (Darren is sure that Sebby threw away his missing iPod!). He takes the bags out of our small garbage cans and carries them around the house. Earlier this week, I caught him unzipping the couch cushions and putting his toast inside!
He loves to play with doors and keys and could probably amuse himself most of the day between just those two things. He tries to unlock doors with his keys and loves to carry our keys around while we're out. I often hand him our keys to keep him awake in the carrier if he begins to fall asleep when we are about to arrive home. Thankfully he never lets go of the keys like he does other objects he's holding while riding in the carrier although sometimes he hides them in the closet! He can now open every door in our flat except the bathroom and the front door (hope he never learns to open those while we're living here!).
Playing with the gate at the park. Contemplating an escape?
He is developing a real sense of humor, socially laughing along (loudly!) when he sees others laughing and teasing Daddy. Darren asks Sebby what his name is and Sebby replies "Mama!" then laughs. Or his points to Darren and says "Mama!" He also loves to chase Darren and run away from him when Darren asks him to come.
It makes me smile to see how much he loves music (like Darren!) and throughout the day asks for "Row, Row" (meaning music). In the morning after I take him out of his crib, he looks under the pillow for my phone because he knows I hide my phone there and asks for "Row, Row!" I let him watch one kids music video on YouTube every morning and that's it (I had to limit it because he was getting addicted to YouTube videos and was starting to throw tantrums when I wouldn't let him watch "more Row, Row"!). He has preferences of which songs he wants a particular times and if I put on one that he doesn't want to hear, he say "more!" right away so that I get the hint to change it. He can't sing along yet but bobs his head to the music. When we listen to music throughout the day, he often dances and at church, he raises his hands above his head during the worship time. Last week he raised both his hands then did the "rock on" symbol.
During our vacation, Sebby was waking up a lot during the night and at one point, Darren sang him to sleep. He was crying and asking for milk so to distract him, we asked if he wanted to sing a song instead. He said yes so Darren started singing the "Abc" song and a few lines in, Sebby started clapping. We couldn't help but burst out laughing. Of course, Sebby had no idea what was going on and after looking at us with a confused look for a few seconds, he started laughing too. When we managed to stop laughing, he continued the song. When it was finished, he said "MORE," he wanted another song. Darren sang a few more songs then Sebby rolled over and went to sleep. What? Amazing new trick! Darren has used it a few times now and it is still working like a charm.
Becoming a parent changes your life so much, giving you less time to yourself and way more work to do but having children enriches your life in so many ways. It certainly isn't always fun and easy but it grows you and changes you in amazing ways. It gives you opportunities to be selfless, putting others first and it gives you a new outlook on life, helping you see people with more compassion, forcing you to slow down and helping you appreciate the smaller things in life.
Overall, I like the person God is making me into and I think a lot of the lessons I have been learning and the changes I have seen in myself could only have been the result of becoming a parent. I'm really thankful for these experiences.
What do you think? Do the parents of toddlers laugh more and have more fun?
