Gabriel who turned two shortly before Christmas. My dad drives the lawnmower to the woods and Gabriel was fascinated with that lawnmower. Gabriel rode on the wagon behind the lawnmower with his cousins. After the ride he got up on Grandpa's lap and pretended to drive, trying to move the gears, checking all the levers and switches. Of course, with toddlers, you worry about too much familiarity with dangerous things like lawnmowers, stairs, and open toilets-all the pitfalls of an ordinary household.
Toddlers have a very strong urge to explore, and also to do things big people do.
Sometimes this is good. For the first 12 months Gabriel would eat anything his father ate. Dad ate broccoli, Gabe would eat broccoli. They are not being naughty on purpose. I will always love the advice of Alta Mae Erb, who long ago authored a book on raising children, in the days when there weren't very many books on the subject.