#toddlers

#toddlers

My 18-month-old grandson doesn't have the biggest vocabulary, but like most toddlers, he makes what he wants known pretty clearly. That's especially true when it comes to his favorite foods, which these days is pretty much anything he can stuff into his mouth unassisted. His most practiced phrase is "Eat, eat!" followed by a gesture he learned at daycare - tapping his thumbs and fingers together in a flat "O" to make the American Sign Language sign for "more."

"'Now, with the bath, make sure you fill the tub all the way up, but then crack the drain a little bit and let the water continue fizzling out because he likes to use a cup - make sure his cup is in the bath. He likes to use a cup to fill up the water and then just continue dumping the water out, filling it up, dumping it out.'"

After throwing big, afternoon birthday bashes for the past three years and always feeling so stressed, I decided to try something different. 'Come join us for a birthday breakfast from 8am to 12pm.'