27 months old

This past weekend, somewhere between our lake adventure and daily pool-time, Taylor turned 27 months old. And taking a moment to reflect on this past month, the mental images of the past weeks are mostly of my daughter in a swimsuit and water-wings. The beach, the lake, the pool... We’ve logged more hours in the water than on dry land recently. Meaning our naps have gotten longer and our baths have become less frequent. Yep, we’ve got one worn-out, chlorine-smelling toddler on our hands. But at least she’s a cute little stinker.

She is getting so much more comfortable in the water. A month ago, she had a death-grip on me as we walked through the pool, and now she’ll just jump in by herself and tread water for hours. She doesn’t have any swimming-skills per say, but she can kick her legs and move herself around in all directions. She even likes to put her head all the way under now, which results in that adorable, dunked-under-water face, so when she comes up she has her mouth wide open and her eyes blinking at turbo-speed. And then she wipes the water off her face and immediately says, AGAIN! AGAIN!

And as fast as she’s adapting to the water, the more she regressing on the potty. For some reason we’re in a rut when it comes to potty training this past month. I keep repeatedly asking her all day, Taylor, Do you need to go potty? And she’ll look at me and say, No. I go potty tomorrow. And I’ll whine, Well, how about now? Let’s go NOW. And she’ll deadpan back, No. Tomorrow. And because I don’t really feel like wrestling her out of her clothes and physically forcing her on the froggy potty, I just sigh and shrug my shoulders. And also continue to spend the majority of Chris’s paycheck on pull-ups and swim diapers.

She continues to amaze me on a daily basis with the things that come out of her mouth. She is speaking so well, and recognizing and repeating words in the correct, read ADORABLE, context. The other night while we were brushing her teeth, she grabbed her mouth and said, My teeth hurt! Which makes sense because her two-year molars are taking forever to pop all the way through. And after working through the pain, we finished up brushing her teeth and she reached her fingers inside my mouth and asked, Momma’s teeth hurt? And I said, Nope. And she got a big smile on her face and said, Momma’s teeth HAPPY? And I nodded and replied, Yes, Momma’s teeth are very happy. And then I immediately dove in and kissed her cheeks for the millionth time that day while she squealed with delight.

And those precious moments and stolen smooches are what I keep reminding myself about when she does have a Terrible Two episode. She has been testing her limits on so much, and the Time Outs and threats of Time Outs have become more and more frequent. And as easy as it would be to forgo the melt-downs and eventual punishment, and just give her what she wants, let her do whatever and tell her what she wants to hear, I know that it would only be a short-term fix to the problem. And I don’t want a spoiled brat for a child. And then I remember two years ago, when my only job as a mother was to clean, feed and keep this little baby alive. And I thought THAT was hard. And now I need to do all of that stuff AND make sure she grows up to be a balanced, respectful, loving human being? Yep, this job is tough. But it’s the best job in the world. And my daughter makes it the greatest, most rewarding job ever.