When I first gave birth to my daughter and spent days on end holding her in my arms, I couldn’t imagine anything past the sweet, subdued calm of infancy – and never thought I’d be able to enjoy the unpredictability of toddlerhood.

But as the world turns, time marches on – and before I knew it, my little cherub became a toddler.

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A fiercely independent, stubborn, strong-willed, wise-beyond-her-years, toddler BOSS.

I have to admit it. I was terrified for this stage. Everywhere I turned, mommy blogs and exhausted mamas everywhere were posting incessantly on social media about the horrors of toddlerhood. The struggle of dealing with a terrible two’s tirade, the agony of living with a threenager – all of this made me feel as if I had signed up for a three-ring circus that forgot to pay the lion tamers.

Look, I’m not going to lie. But there is no way to sugarcoat it. The last thing I ever expected was to fall in love with this stage.

Yes, you read that right. I have fallen head over heels for the insanity that is this toddler stage.

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Why?

Because there is so much beauty in the madness. There is an excitement in not knowing what each day will bring. There is so much strength in those tantrums that I wonder, if even today, as a grown woman, could I ever implore the conviction and determination that this little 24 pound human does, every single day. I am amazed at the growth I see happening before my very eyes. Amazed at the new words I hear my daughter saying on a daily basis. Amazed at the patience I’ve developed for the meltdown that ensues, when I give her a blue sippy cup instead of a green one.