The toddler years are known well in mommyland. We are warned my our mothers and grandmothers of the terrible twos. After our first child (and mama) survives that stage we quickly learn that the terrible twos are followed by the tyrannical threes. After several months of butting heads, the calm returns. Until four comes. The words to go with four are “R”-rated. Then we are attacked by the know-it-all fives until we can kick lovingly send them off to school all day.
Imagine you have a child stuck in the terrible twos and is 12 inches taller than the others for OVER A YEAR.
After you stop crying,
The terrible twos are hard enough when the kid is 30 inches tall. When you kid is developmentally delayed, those “stages” are much much longer that a typical child. Stranger anxiety was 9 months, fear of loud noises 2 years and still going strong, not sleeping through the night went for 3 years, you get the picture. Then there are the oddball fears like walking in the front of the line, motorcycles, school buses and people hold hands.
Now my toddler is 57 months old, 40 pounds and 43 inches tall. She is destroying my house stem to stern.
She can reach things the average toddler only dreams about. Two weeks ago, she emptied 3 gallons of water out of the cooler. Last week, a gallon of pink lemonade went from the fridge to the floor. Heaven help her if she wasn’t cute enough to smile her way out of just about everything.
Photos Courtesy Astacia Carter