Toddlerhood

I was going to write about the beautiful, warm even, afternoon we had. We played outside, opened the windows, and soaked up the sunshine. But I was just checking my email and read this from my babycenter.com updates:

"Don't be surprised if your toddler already seems to treat you and your spouse differently. Whichever parent he spends the most time with will be the one he demands more of and is hardest on. If Mom's around more, Dad will be treated like someone special, and vice versa. While this may make one of you feel jealous, know that it's normal and is your child's way of testing out his relationship with each of you. Family dynamics, and your child's shifting loyalties, will be more and more evident during the next few months as he becomes increasingly independent."

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. You see, Chris is upstairs right now putting Lizzie to sleep. It's not that I don't want to, I would love to cuddle with her and hold her just as she drifts away, relaxing, breathing heavily. Nothing is quite so peaceful as holding a sleeping baby.

But, it seldom works like this for me. Elizabeth will relax, but just before she lets herself go, she pops back up. Suddenly she's ready for Mommy-playtime: wrestling, wallowing, jabbering, even hitting crying. But, almost always, Chris can go up there, hold her, and even do whatever he wants (watch tv, play a video game) and she'll just pass right out. It's just not fair at all.

So my weekly babycenter update was a little comforting. She's just harder on me because we spend too much time together, and she thinks Daddy's special. I suppose I can live with that; I know she'll grow out of this stage too fast.

I want to add that I am tickled by the reference to "shifting loyalties," as if we are talking about political party alliances.