My toddler, what can I say about my toddler?

tod·dler (tod-ler) n.  a person who toddles, esp. a young child learning to walk.

Example: "A toddler is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it." - Jerry Seinfeld

Origin:   1785–95; toddle + -er1

Crazy isn't it?!  We have a toddler!  A living, breathing, WALKING toddler.  And, while the toddling part makes it official, the fact that today she moved into the toddler room at daycare makes it super official.  I told them when she turned one that she was ready to go in there, but they didn't have room, so she's been practicing.  Practicing?  Yea, practicing.  That means she goes in there for meals and naps and any other time of the day when they have room, meaning they have less than a 4 to 1 ratio of kids to teachers.  So, now today, she made the official transition.  Though, because their toddler room doesn't open until 7:30 and I drop her off at 6:45 she still goes in the infant room for a little while in the morning.  But, hey, she spends most of her time with the big kids now, the ones who move like she moves instead of crawling or laying around in a little space. 

The  toddler room is easily two to three times as big if not bigger than the infant room.  There are no cribs in the toddler room - the kids sleep on mats on the floor just like in preschool or kindergarten (do they still have nap time in kindergarten?).  They get to go outside more.  They sit at the table for their meals instead of in the table (yes, in the infant room they had chairs built into the table top that the kids sat at).  And toys!  Oh the toys!  There are so much cooler toys in the toddler room and more space to throw them!  I'll have to get them to write down her favorite toys there to share with you. 

As parents, we no longer have to put on surgical booties to drop her off and pick her up.  We don't have to fill out the paper in the morning telling the teachers how she slept, when she last ate, etc.  All drinks and meals are provided... provided she likes what they have to offer.  Three days a week it's cereal and I don't think she cares for that much, but the other two days are pancakes or waffles and the like.  Granted, we got lucky and they had a trial period of providing formula and jarred foods for the infants, but that program wasn't funded so that stopped.  But about that time she had switched to the toddler food so she's been getting most of her meals provided for a few months now anyway.  I do still have to pack non-perishables so that in case she refuses their meals she has something else to eat.  And these days she refuses a lot - if it's not what she wants or not the way she wants it.  She threw a fit yesterday b/c I tried to cut up her banana, she wanted to hold the whole dang thing.  Good grief!  (Probably my fault b/c I've been letting her hold and eat the banana for a while now, but sometimes I try to cut it up b/c she takes too big of bites.  Lesson learned for baby boy Colvin.)

Beyond the facts and figures of becoming a toddler, we have new responsibilities now as parents.  We have to watch her like a hawk and be prepared to get up and go  at a moment's notice (or no notice).  But we also have to let her go sometimes - let her explore on her own (with us following a safe distance behind should she, ya know, pick up some random bark off the ground and decide she needs to know what it tastes like).  We're going to have to learn when there's been enough space, enough exploring, how to teach her to hold our hands (not that she has a problem with that now, she loves holding our hands still) when we're crossing the street/sidewalk/driveway etc, how to teach her to come back to us when we call her instead of just continuing on.  All kinds of new things for all of us to learn as she grows and becomes her own person.  It's a scary thought.  Up until know our biggest lesson to teach was, um, well, hmmmm... what did we have to teach her?   Nothing really.  Most of what she's learned she's done on her own, using her own instincts and desires.  Now it's our turn.  Scary thought!  Exciting, but scary!

Alright, I need to go lay down, I got myself all worked up over my new role of teacher.  Geesh!