A CREATIVELY, READY, STEADY, GROWING TODDLER!

Levi is at a point in which he is constantly learing, discovering things about himself and others, as he tries to make sense in finding his own independence.  His time at play helps him to discover about the things he likes and about those things which are not as appealing to him as he develps his communication skills.   Play time also helps him to burn much of the excess energy, while giving him a healthy outlook as he grows.  It also helps to build and strengthen his muscles …sometime I think he should have been named, Samson!, for all the lifting and moving around of our furnitue.  

Levi’s awareness with his imagination is growing, so to is his love for his books and from time to time, his curiousity goes off the track, where he want to read labels on bottles and cans from his adventures in the pantry as the picture catches his interest.  He can also converse when asked “what are you doing?” or “where are you going?” As such, we end up reading aloud together.  There are moments when I would ask him to read to me or to tell me a story…its fun listening to him speak, as sometime in gettng the words out in a rush, it sounds like a foreigh language. 

I do it because it is important to hear and encourage his vocabulary, even from make-believe story telling, so that he can put a name to the things he has learnt; I can learn from feedback, how he thinks and his ability in understanding what is happening around him as his intellect grows and develops.  His creative instinct carries into his love for art, which brings such a colourful delight to his creativity, this is noted from his walks with his grandparents, as he learns from observation, such things like, the shape of a tree, the blue of the sky and the clouds that lingers so high in the sky, a cat that scurries out of the way, or the approachable neigbourhood dog, not fogetting his glee at chasing off the pigeons in our yard. 

I was shocklingly surprised one moring at finding him on our counter top, whereby he used his bathroom stool to assist him in his rise to the top, to closely witness the activities of his fish tank …not a very plesant taste for a mom, to have her heart in her mouth!  However, I believe at this statge of his toddler’s growth, lessons will come, bringing with it greater insights into our toddler’s behaviour patterns and as his parents, closer supervision would become necessary as his creative imagination and his will to explore becomes stronger, from wanting to help in the kitchen, make camp with the sheets, give the dog a bubble bath, more so, from his awareness of the effects of his imagination and his growing love for heights and climbing!  

Nevertheless, as his mom and dad, we also must learn balance in helping him to nuture his creative and social skills, one such way is by not overtly restraining him, where controlling, stiffles his creative impluses, as in the end, he needs to learn to make right choices, and in some instances, think independently for himself; and yes, even when he seem to be in a state of disorder from the litter of his scattered toys and paint that seems to be sprinkled everwhere, from the trials and errors in broadening his toddler’s scope, we would be there to give our support, positivly and where necessary, correction and guidence, which is instrumental towards his efforts, as his toddler  skills take shape in this growth and developent stage.