The one thing that makes me sad about having to teach and leave Little One with her grandparents is that I miss out on a lot of fun and exciting things that go on during the day.

Last week, she learned the word "bum".  Today, she pooped and then told Grampy "Bum! Bum!" while pointing at her posterior.  She has officially started telling us when she needs a diaper change.  This leads me to believe that soon we can start her on potty training.

I've become much more astute when it comes to deciphering "Toddler Talk".  I now know that "ope!" means "open", "mo" means "more", and "peas" means "please".  Usually these words are accompanied by frantic gesturing and pointing toward objects of desire.  For example, "Juice! Juice! Ope! Ope! OPE!!!!" means, "Mommy, I'd like  you to open the juice for me, please."

Likewise, "Mo? Mo? MO!?!?!?!" while pointing to the Halloween candy that she was never intended to see means "I've been such a good girl, Mom. I think a little bit of chocolate won't kill me. Would you please give me just a little piece?"

The other morning, I was trying to get us ready and out the door so she could go to Grampy and Lola's and I could teach an ESL lesson.  Little One kept saying, "Juice! Juice! Juice!" so I added  a few drops of juice to her water and gave it to her.  She kept coming back to me with an empty cup and pleading, "Mo? Mo? Mo? Juice! Juice! Juice!"


I decided that instead of brushing my hair and applying make-up, I should check on what the toddler was doing.  To my shock and horror, she was watering my 6 ft tall banana plant...with JUICE!!!
Of course, I'm not claiming to be an expert in Toddler Talk 101.  There are days when I have absolutely no idea what Little One is trying to articulate.  For some reason, my brain cannot process "Op! Bababada...Brrrp...lala...diddle, diddle, ope, OPE! Liggle, liggle, liggle."  When I can't comprehend, Little One gets frustrated, flings herself onto the couch, folds her arms and buries her head in her hands, while sobbing.

It is the strangest thing.  It feels as though while I was out, my baby has turned into a toddler.  She's turned into a toddler with her own thoughts, wants, opinions, and wants to have things done her way...and right now! Seriously! It's as if I woke up one morning and all of a sudden, Little One has started articulating her demands wants.  I've seen wild animals on National Geographic TV make less noise than she does sometimes!  I suppose it's part of being a toddler and kids do have to learn to express themselves and learn how to communicate what they want. Does it have to be so exhausting and so dramatic though? 

Oh, we deal with things in a constructive and positive way.  We're trying to teach her that she doesn't need to get frustrated when she's asking for things and that we will respond to her. Of course, I'm exaggerating with this picture of Little One I am painting for you. She really isn't that much of a drama queen. She's actually pretty well behaved. This said,  in all honesty, parenting is much more difficult for me than teaching grammar all day.  Infinitives, gerunds, dangling modifiers, conditionals, adverbial clauses...Pffffffft! All of those are a cake walk compared to figuring out how to best deal with parenting your child.

Hmmmm...Wait until she realizes that her Mama's as headstrong as she is!