Adventures in Toddler Land

Life with a toddler is always interesting. Especially life with a busy toddler. Is there such a thing as a not busy toddler? If there is, I would like to see it because our little Lilly is the definition of busy. Just ask anyone who has talked to us on skype. Over the course of a conversation, Lilly walks (or runs or dances) back and forth in front of the camera at least a dozen times, usually carrying something different. Sometimes it's a toy (at the moment, it tends to be a potato), or a stuffed animal (usually the hideous pink poodle), or a container from the kitchen, or a remote control or my watch that I could have sworn I'd left on my bedside table. Like I said, life with Lilly is never dull.

Given the amount of activity that goes on during the course of Lilly's day, it is no wonder that she sleeps well. Growing up, Mum always believed it was important for us to learn to play by ourselves. To this day, I love being by myself, with nothing to do. When those times arise, which is not too often these days, I have a list of things that I would like to spend time on. I know that Joseph, Ellie and Edward are like this too. We grew up learning how to play with each other, but also learning how to entertain ourselves. That is a lesson that I feel is so important for Lilly to learn as I know I've carried it with me through my life. For that reason, I love hearing Lilly playing in her crib before she falls asleep or when she wakes up. As much as I want to rush in and get her after a nap, I try to leave her for a little while. And often, when I walk in, she looks up like I'm disturbing her, surrounded by her stuffed animals and books. Letting Lilly learn how to play by herself comes with a few challenges. I want Lilly to have books in her crib and she clearly enjoys having books in her crib.

The picture above is the result of Lilly's reading. This is the ever growing pile of casualties that have been ripped off pages. There are mittens, hands, earmuffs, a blanket, and the poor yak, whose face was pulled off while I was in the other room. Lilly loves lifting the flaps in books. Unfortunately, she also loves seeing how hard she can pull those flaps. So now, there are two books with flaps (or what few flaps remain) that she is allowed in her crib. The rest are allowed under closer supervision.

The other day, I decided to try and repair some of Lilly's reading casualties. This is what I found when I went to get the tape:

I smiled, ruled out Jim as a suspect and moved on to my book repairs. Another common sight in our house is:

Yes, that's right. Once again, it is clear who the culprit is. Lilly loves toilet paper. Who wouldn't? It's a game that doesn't end until the roll is completely unrolled. She hasn't gone that far yet--we've always caught her before she has massacred the entire roll. Everything is an experiment at this age and as long as she's not hurting herself or damaging things, Jim and I don't mind these little experiments. They make great stories and always put smiles on our faces.

I started writing this blog post today because of the way that our day started this morning. Jim usually goes in to get Lilly when she wakes up in the morning, and this morning, he brought her out awfully quickly and asked me, "what's missing from this picture?" The answer: Lilly's diaper. Yes, last night, Lilly decided that she didn't need her diaper on and removed it. The result was a soaking wet crib (along with everything in it) and one happy baby! We made sure that her diaper was securely covered tonight so we'll see what happens. Life with Lilly is certainly never dull. It is, and I'm sure will continue to be, one big adventure.