March has, for the past two years, been a time of transition for us—a moving month in more ways than one. That’s why our theme of friendship has always felt especially fitting. We’ve spent time focusing on the friends we have, and the friends we have yet to meet.

Moving

One of the stories that accompanied us during this time was The Elephant story. After hearing the story, Theo Vilje would often initiate play around the idea that the elephant had friends living in different houses. We expanded on this together, placing houses in all kinds of landscapes—mountains, deserts, trees, and seas. The play was entirely led by him, and we followed along by adding language and descriptions as he played. It marked the beginning of what felt like roleplay for toddlers.

Emotions

When Theo Vilje turned two, we also began exploring emotional awareness in toddlers more intentionally. He showed a strong interest in people’s expressions and emotions, often picking up books, pointing to faces, and asking us to name what they were feeling. He had a growing need to express his own feelings, especially when he felt disappointed. It was a relief for us when he was able to point to a picture to show us how he felt. The emotional lotto game we created together became part of his regular play. He used the little notes from it not just during the game, but in everyday situations.

Friends

We also spent a lot of time when he turned two on the friendship circle activity. This month, Theo Vilje’s language development grew significantly in connection with this theme. He became so excited that he would run around the garden with a pencil and paper, asking everyone to trace their hand. He then led them back to our house to cut out the shapes with scissors, and before long, he became very determined that each hand needed to be colored differently. In the end, we decided to paint all the hand-prints on the walls of our house in Cambodia, as a gift to our neighbors there before we left.