This is the age for big, genuine smiles. The kind that showcase those brand new front baby teeth. Running clumsily when you hear the door open at the end of the day, babbling “dada, dada, dada.” Throwing food to the dogs from the high chair. Those deep belly laughs when you’re being tickled. The pitter patter of your little feet in the morning, pink sippy cup in one hand and stuffed animal in the other. 

This is the age for getting into everything. Mommy’s hair serum and tinted moisturizer, the dog’s water bowls, and the tupperware cabinet. You sway your little body back and forth to the music on the TV commercials, or to the songs we sing to you.

This is the age where you are constantly learning. New words, new skills, new tricks. This is the age where you delight in everything. Bathtime bubbles, family photos hung up on the walls, balloons in the grocery store. This is the age to unabashedly wave at the neighbors and leave a mess in your wake wherever you go, just as a tornado would.

We’re past the constant diaper changes, and not yet in the throes of potty training. This is the age for kissable, chubby little cheeks and those post-bathtime silky curls at the back of your neck. This is the age for running through the house, holding tight to the necks of all your stuffies, that funny little cackle that is so very you, ringing out through the house. 

This is the age where Cheerios are a godsend. They’re everywhere, the living room rug, under the high chair, in every crevice of the car. They act not only as a snack, but as a distraction. Speaking of distractions, you are distracted easily by an empty water bottle, a handful of puffs, or anything that is in fact, not a toy. This is the age where you follow your brother around and knock down his Magnatile towers, and mess up his perfectly positioned Hot Wheels cars. This is the age where you fall in love with your doggies.

This age is the sweet spot between baby and toddler. You’re baby enough to still wear footie pajamas and to reach your little arms up to me, asking to be picked up. You’re toddler enough to have a personality that is all your own.

This is the age when your problems are small. Teething, being told no, scraping your knee on the sidewalk. Your problems are not yet scary things, like bullying and peer pressure. This is the age when mom and dad can fix everything. I know it won’t always be this way. 

Someday when you’re grown up and doing big things, I’ll remember you at this age. Always my baby girl.