"I will do it myself"

Max's favorite thing to say is "I will do it myself!" I think I probably hear that phrase, oh, about 100 times a day. Max wants to do everything himself from lacing up his shoes, to pouring his milk, to walking up and down steep stairs. And, if he catches you trying in some small way to assist, he will scold you, and then completely start the entire process over. (Now you know why we begin to get ready AT LEAST 2 hours before we have to be anywhere). However, there have been occasions when Max has realized that he cannot complete the task unassisted. And, of course, those are the times when he will volunteer the help of which ever parent is trying to do something else. For example, this morning, I was trying to get Max's shoes on after he went swimming. He had been trying for a few (read: TWELVE) minutes to get the lace through one of the small holes in his shoe. Finally, he agreed to getting a little help. However, when I knelt down to try to thread the lace through, he grabbed his shoe and said "No! Daddy help me!" I tried to no avail to explain to him that daddy was working out in the other room, and that furthermore, we were in the girl's locker room and boy's were not allowed (which, by the way was a terrible move since he identifies as a boy, and did not understand why he did was in the locker room if boys were not allowed.) Luckily, Arran came to check on us, and I had to stand guard in the doorway of the (luckily empty) locker room while Arran snuck in to tie Max's shoe so we could be on our way.

I remember when I took Max in for his 2 week appointment. I do not remember what I was talking about with the pediatrician (those were the days I went in with lists and lists of things to discuss. ...Oh, who am I kidding, I still do that) but to whatever inquiry it was she replied, "he just has very strong opinions." At the time I laughed it off, but maybe, even at 2 weeks, she could tell that our wee one had a firm idea about how things should go, and he is clear about communicating this. For instance, he has on more than one occasion corrected the teachers at his daycare when they call his sweater a "jumper." And, he is constantly correcting me when I do something out of order (like wash his face before brushing his teeth).

I find his independence simultaneously thrilling (most days) and frustrating (the other days. And when we are late). I love that he wants to do things himself. I am constantly in awe of how amazingly smart he is. I mean, he is two and he seems to be capable of remembering to shut the cabinets and drawers that I leave open. And, he can tell you in detail what Uncle Greg told him about the penguins. Soon, he will be correcting the grammatical errors in my papers and balancing my checkbook. (one can hope, right?)

(In this post are pictures of my independent man during his recent trip to Waiheke island.)