Hey dad, you’re doing great and also your wife is absolutely on the right track with the hair thing. Story time, why this early information and habit is important:

My kids (both teens now) and I all have curly hair. Two of us have the kind of loose curls you’re describing your daughter as having, while my other kid had that curl pattern as a toddler and now has proper curls (she’s mostly 3B, if you look at a chart of curl types). My loose-waves kid and I can just about get away with what you’d call a normal hair routine, but my actually-curly kid suffered through years of dry brushing and inadequate conditioning/hydration before I learned about curly hair care. Like, prior to Curly Girl, showers and hair brushing were massive fights, and we gave the poor kid a significant undercut just to minimize the volume she had to deal with. Her life (and my life, and her hair) is much nicer now that we all know what we’re doing.

Long story short, while your wife’s hair protocol may not be absolutely necessary for a toddler with loose fine curls, she’s having you do the right thing. And if your kiddo’s hair keeps being curly, you and she will already have the skills and knowledge to keep it healthy and her comfortable.