Apparently there’s a difference between an Infant and a Toddler, and the line is drawn at 18 months old. Honestly, I had no idea what the difference is… they’re all babies aren’t they?
Well e turned 18 months a few days ago, and I think I understand the difference. With an Infant, you pretty much carry them around, watch them crawl, waddle, take some steps, etc. They observe things and interact with a lot of curiosity.
Lately we’ve been adding new phrases to our vocabulary:
“Put that down!” “Don’t poke yourself with the fork” “Stop chasing the cats!” “Why are you squishing your food” “Hey, where are you going? Come back here!” “Who turned off the computer?!” “Don’t open the cupboard and put the Tabasco sauce back!”
Yeah I think we know the difference now. It’s like with her new found mobility, she’s continuously scanning the counter and table tops for interesting things to grab and experiment with. She loves to grab a pen, spoon, anything that extends her reach… and uses it to poke, tap, drum, or fetch things. Now she’s able to act on her curiousity, whereas when she was an Infant, she was pretty curious, but more passively so. It’s interesting to watch her develop at this stage, but it also means parenting has taken on a very active aspect!