How big is a toddler?

Tiarnan, two, is my smallest son. Comparatively speaking he is smaller than might be expected because the other two, Fintan, just turned five, and Ainan, eight are larger than usual for their age. Fintan is both taller and bulkier, being, in terms of size, a couple of years ahead of himself - and Ainan too, has the height (but not the mass) of someone a couple of years older.

Tiarnan, however, is not unusual, at two, in terms of height. Yet, he is an ambitious boy and sees himself as more mature than perhaps we see him.

The other day, to test his self-perception, and for the fun of it, I asked him:

"Are you my big son?"

He had a bottle in his mouth, so he couldn't speak and drink at the same time. He chose to continue to drink - and shook his head, in reply. It was an honest shake - one that acknowledged the true situation.

Then I asked him, a little teasingly: "Are you my little son?". He shook his head more vigorously, this time, perhaps a little indignantly. Being the littlest was not for him - whether or not it was true.

Then I inquired: "Are you my medium sized son?"

He considered it for a second or two and seemed to like the sound of that. He nodded, acceptingly, quite content.

Thus, in the world of this particular toddler, truth and stature are both important. He wants to be the biggest, but acknowledges that he isn't - but, at the same time, he can't accept that he is the smallest - so he settles for a compromise.

I left my "medium sized" youngest son to finish his bottle in peace.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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