I'm just going to come right out and say it. Toddlers are better than babies.
Babies, while gorgeous and squishy and delicious-smelling, are basically just tiny little blobs of skin and bodily fluids and noise.
Toddlers on the other hand, can be pretty cool little humans to hang out with.
Now don't get your knickers in a knot, I'm not a baby-hater, I love a good newborn snuggle as much as the next person. Babies are very cute and totally adorable. But I'm calling it - toddlers are way better than babies.
Here are just a few reasons why:
They can tell you what they want
Well, mostly. When they know what it is that they want. Sometimes what they want is just to have a big screaming tantrum, and I totally get that, I feel the same way sometimes.
When babies need something - be it food, a clean nappy, a cuddle, a sleep - pretty much their only response is to cry. Toddlers can generally tell you what they want (or point if they're not too verbal yet) and crises can be averted relatively quickly.
The downside of this of course, is that they can tell you what they want, and they can tell you, and tell you, and tell you again, even while you're in the process of getting it for them. Bless.
Conversations about the big stuff
My kids and I can now have awesome conversations about stuff that makes us all think. Like why the moon is round sometimes and crescent shaped other times. And how the word crescent sounds like present, but it's not actually a present at all. Or why Ben and Holly wear the same outfits every day, or why butterflies have pretty coloured wings.
Toddlers have absolutely no filter either, so if they're wondering if the man in the supermarket queue has a baby in his tummy, or why mummy's friend has 'funny' hair today, they have no qualms about asking. Very loudly.
Babies are terrible conversationalists. You can spend all day talking to yourself without being interrupted by a single "but why?". How boring.
Stand-up / Fall-down comedians
Toddlers are freaking hilarious. Sometimes by accident, through inexpert use of fast-growing bodies, but other times on purpose. My 3 year old has the best comedic timing ever. She even waits to laugh at her own jokes until someone else laughs first (she beats me there I'm afraid, I'm quite often the only person who laughs at my jokes).
Mr 2 is more of a slapstick man and will go out of his way to make people laugh at his physical antics. If someone giggles because he tripped over something, he'll back up and do it again, this time in slow motion, to make sure everybody gets a good look.
Toddlers can lighten the mood in the most unlikely places, like hospitals, or public toilets.
Babies are cute and all, but the only time I was in fits of giggles during those early days was if I was laughing to stop myself from crying, or from some kind of sleep-deprived hysteria.
I do it myself!!
As toddlers grow and develop, so does their sense of determination to do things themselves. While sometimes this will create more trouble than it's worth (think, toddler trying to make a cake), watching a toddler put their shoes on by themselves, carry their own backpack or help you unpack the dishwasher is pretty priceless.
Toddlers are also happy to entertain themselves for short periods, freeing you up for such fun tasks as cleaning the bathroom, and completing your tax return. If you've got two toddlers, sometimes they'll even play together!
Babies can't do anything themselves. They need you to entertain them, to comfort them, to feed them and carry them. You're their entire world. Babies need you for absolutely everything, 24 hours a day. So an independent toddler is a joy to behold if you ask me. Even if it means I'm going shopping with a kid in mismatched shoes wearing a tutu over his tracksuit pants.
Helping hands
There's nothing toddlers love more than helping. Mum, dad, preschool teachers, strangers in the street, they don't discriminate about who should be the lucky recipient of their helping hands. If you need a spoon out of the drawer, or someone to hand you the pegs as you hang out the washing, then a toddler's who you want by your side.
Having an audience every time you go to the bathroom can be really handy when you run out of loo paper, as there's always a toddler who's ready and willing to grab you another roll out of the cupboard.
Babies are no help at all, unless you need help to develop bigger eye bags, or forget where you put the car keys. And I don't need help with those things thanks, I'm managing perfectly well on my own.
More sleep
Now I'm not going to lie and say that all toddlers sleep or anything crazy like that, and it's a rare night when both of mine sleep through. BUT, things are certainly a lot easier these days than they were back in the newborn baby days, when I'd be up feeding every 2 hours overnight. I don't miss those days at all. One or two wakes a night is bliss by comparison.
Kisses and cuddles
Kissing and cuddling a baby is all one-way - you get nothing back apart from maybe a gummy grin and, if you're lucky, a little posset over your shoulder.
Kisses and cuddles from a toddler are THE BEST! They'll squeeze you until you think you'll burst, and cover you in wet sloppy kisses all over.
Watching my toddler's face lights up as he clocks me from across the room, and seeing him race towards me with his little arms stretched out for a running-jump-cuddle makes me well up. Every. Single. Time.
So babies are sweet and all, but I'll just continue telling my ovaries to shut up for the moment, and enjoy my two delightful toddlers, just as they are.
Image blogger's own
Do you think toddlers are better than babies? What's your favourite 'stage'?