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The Quirks of Toddling Sprites

As a parent of a 2 year old, like every parent of toddlers, I'm continually impressed with my child's uniqueness. Every thing he does amazes me and I'm convinced no other child in the universe is close to matching The Sprites' skill and personality. That is until I talk to other parents or read the many parenting blogs out there. Yes, out "there", it seems almost every other toddler displays almost excactly the same personallity quirks as my now-not-so-unique Sprite.

Toddlers are going through such an incredible rate of development, it is hard to believe they all pass through the same "compass points" along the way to Childhood. But I am amazed when I hear of other kids acting so similarly to mine. How can little Lucy babble and laugh in exactly the same dialect of Toddlerese as my little Monster. Why does young Tommy find the same properties of common garden dirt so enthralling. And edible. Are they all somehow related? Cut from the same Carbon Matter? When I hear a child laughing or crying at the grocery store, I can't tell you how many times I had to check to make sure I didn't bring TheSprite with me instead of my wallet, or the shopping list.

But having said all this, The Sprite still has some really odd, quirky habits and traits. I challenge other parents to share your little ones' own quirks. I'm sure all kids are unusual in SOME ways despite their similarities. So here I will try to list some of the more amusing things that our little Barney Rubble does that entertain us...

WigglesWorld
Of course, every toddlers favourite gay Australian show, influence our lads playtime like no other thing. He stands in front of the big screen TV watching and copying every gay move Greg and the Boys do. He has even taken to striking a loud "Ahoy Me Harty's" whilst splashing in the bath, just like Capt Feathersword in Wiggly Safari.

Wiggly Interpretation
For weeks, he had us puzzled as to where he got the latest dance move from. He would swing his arms in windmills yelling "Goopy Cow" 3 times before hurling himself to the floor. It was not until the song "Blow Me Down" from Wiggly Wiggly World came on and the lad practically jumped out of his skin to get in front of the TV in time to perform his Goopy Cow along with the Aussie Boys. To a toddler, Goopy Cow and Blow Me Down, must sound identical.

W is for Wiggles
Maybe its a coincidence, but learning his ABCs, The Sprite has latched on to the letter W. Why pick this as your favourite letter out of all the rest? It can only be the brainwashing sounds from down under. He'll recite his ABCs in fairly steady manner, but when we get to W, that letter gets a hearty and well pronounced cheer.

Tinkle Troubles
Its potty training time here and The Sprites first attempt at going pee pee like daddy impressed me more than it did him. Standing on his steps in front of the toilet, pants down, daiper folded out, he stood there for ten mins holding his tinkle trying to go. "Its broken" He kept telling me. "Its okay I told him, we can try again later" But sadly he was not buying that. Frustration and tears set in when he could not get himself to go.

Favourite Words
Its funny how he will latch on to certain words with little or no provocation, and others he wants nothing to do with despite our pushy attempts. Breakable, for instance. Since we told him the Xmas decorations were breakable, he has no trouble pointing out other breakable items. Even if they are not. Well Done is another phrase he breaks out any opportunity he feels self-congratulatory. "Mummy's glass..Yes. Its breakable...Well done"

Oli Oli Oli
Spagetti Os used to be his favourite food, until he discovered Ravioli was much more fun to say....

2 Books
Part of the 2 hour night time ritual I share with my son (after brushing teeth, washing face, getting into Jammies, filling up steam [humidifier], getting 'fresh water' and saying night-night to Mummy) is "2 book". Which in toddler math is usually about 6 or 7 book. We'll do the same ones every night, and now he has them memorized to where he recites the lines for me. His favourite for some time is Little Tiger. The passage where Little Tiger looks up and sees "two very large yellow eyes staring back at him" are read with such enthusiasm he almost falls of his chair.

Whassat, Precursor to Why
Everything is whassat these days. People. Houshold items. Body parts. Its only going to get worse. He's a total jabberbox already. Once the WHYs get here, the game is all over.

Little Stuntman
The sprite has endless energy for exploring new ways of giving himself a concusion or causing other bodily injury. Throwing himself onto the floor is the best fun. But falling off the couch, diving on the bed, jumping off the back of the couch onto a sleeping Mummy, running and falling are all endless entertainment to a 3 foot tall caveman. If he falls and hurys himself, he never lets on. "Are you okay?" he prompts me to ask him. "Its okay" he tells me.

Well theres many more silly little things he does repeatedly that just make us laugh. I could go on for pages, but I won't. You get the idea. He's 2. He's a Boy. He's typical in his own unique little way...

Comments

Karen S. said…
I now how you feel about wanting to make potty training an easy event. My son did the same thing standing infront of the toilet with nothing happening. So I began researching potty training a common theme seemed to be praise and positive reinforcement. I came across a website called www.pottytrainingrewards.com. We hung it in the kitchen and named the little boy on the front of the package, Bobby. My son could not wait to go to the potty so he could push the button, hear the praising message, and get his chocolate reward from, Bobby. It really got my son excited about using the potty himself and it was fun for him. Because he became so involved, potty training was easy. So give it a try.

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