From Toddler to Preschool age

My son is 2 and 11 months old. In 1 month he will get into a new stage of Child Development – the Preschool age. While I understand these stages are relative and the switch doesn’t happen overnight, it’s good to understand what to expect in the close future.

For now, I still think of him like a toddler. I’m in awe of how many new things he is learning. And tired of how many times I have to repeat things with him. It’s strange how he learns new words. Usually, we read his favorite books over and over. Sometimes he repeats after us. Other times he says nothing. And by miracle sometimes he just tells us the story before we read it. All those times he said nothing but in the background, he was learning and memorizing.

He loves pizza…or “pizzy” how he calls it. Wants to cook and go to restaurants and to the store and try new things. He got that from his mom. Sometimes we let him choose what he wants to buy so now he runs into the stores and picks all kinds of strange things. Some we buy, some we return. Or they just vanish from the cart by some magic. Must be why he holds some of them with both hands and doesn’t want to give them back to us.

Sometimes he enjoys something so much he starts to run around in circles or jump in bed. Half joy and half madness. After a while, you feel like you have to stop him before he hurts himself. Or breaks something. Or both.

You don’t really know what he’ll do next. I always feel like I have to be vigilant around him. And it’s tiring like hell when you need to watch him all day long – the dreaded sick days. My wife doesn’t always agree. Until she gets a foot in her nose. Or an electric mini car stuck in her hair. Bye-bye hair.

He knows to say “Sorry” and “Thank you”. And that gets him out of trouble most of the time. He likes to help. Can’t do anything around the house without hearing: “Edy helps”. Especially cooking or making coffee. Even if it takes twice the time to do it. I’m glad he likes to get involved. And he bursts with pride when he hears you say “Thank you”.

The first time he tried to put us to sleep. He sang Twinkle twinkle little star … almost perfectly. He asked for both of us to sit on his side and he caressed our faces while singing. Simply amazing.

Are the toddler days really coming to an end? What’s next? Is it time for the “why why why” questions?

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Side by side is a book about the first years of parenting. Both the beauty and the hidden side of parenting. The long nights and troubled days. Parents who try and fail and then try again. And how your little one puts a smile on your face and you forget everything just in time to start a new challenging day.  It follows the first 2 years of a new dad and his journey, side by side, along with his son.