Primordial Glee

Like all toddlers, Ivan wears his emotions on his sleeve. That internal filter really hasn't been set up yet. As some BabyCenter post I saw a while ago said, "toddlers live large and love large" or something to that extent.

So when he's cranky, he's cranky. And eventually, lays down on the floor in protest.

When we say he can't have something, he, of course, throws a temper tantum. (And, amazingly, they tend to be effective most of the time, except when we're absolutely adamant about him not having or doing something.)

When he doesn't want to do something (like take a bath, take off his pajama, or put on his pajamas, or diapers, or clothes), there is no way to get him to do it. The best strategy is to wait a while, have him get distracted by something else, and then try again, and again, and again. Eventually, half an hour, or one hour later, he acquiesces and I achieve my goal, what ever it may be.

But also, when he's happy and excited about something, his exuberance can only be described as primordial glee.

Like, in a store, when he runs yelling, "I find it," heading for the milk or the yo-yo aisle. Or when he exclaims "yeeeeaaahh" for something that pleases him or something he's accomplished. Or simply when he cracks up laughing those belly laughes because it's "fun" "funny," whatever it may be.