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.

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.

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.