The independent phase

I climbed a ladder all by
myself!

While I'm pretty sure Kalina and Elise went through similar phases, albeit short-lived, Naomi's declaration of two-year-old independence caught all of us off guard. It happened overnight, and led to lots of shrieking before it was fully understood (most Naomi's, some mine).

All of a sudden, Naomi wanted to do certain tasks herself. "Self, self!" she'd chant. I've documented her experiments with independence and our collective results for your reading pleasure:

Stair-climbing. Swatting away my hands as I tried desperately to hold one of hers up and down the stairs, Naomi instead opted to steady herself solely with the too-high banister. She would not consent to be carried, either, and liked to savor her independent stair-climbing, with the result that descending or ascending would take 10 minutes each way and I cringed at the thought of changing levels in our house. Diaper changes became a ground-floor endeavor, as it's much easier to haul diapers up and down than it is to escort a toddler. For her safety, I insisted on remaining one step ahead or behind, ready to catch, which Naomi seemed okay with for now, as long as there's no physical contact. She'll also occasionally let me carry things for her if she has "a big load," as she calls it. Of course, I only figured out this system after lots of panicked protests as Mommy got it wrong time and time again.

Proud in pigtails!

Cereal pouring. Kalina and Elise pour their own cereal, so why shouldn't I? Naomi wondered as she fetched a plastic bowl from the plastic-bowl cupboard at breakfast time. She was soon merrily dumping raisin bran into her bowl and all over the floor (a two-year-old's table), and I could only watch, because it's bad luck to fight any non-essentials with a two-year-old before breakfast. Instead, I simply cleaned up and planned strategies to better divert Naomi in the future. The next morning, after a bit of a tussle, she poured her cereal while I directed the back corner of the box a bit. If she noticed, she didn't seem to mind, but pouring cereal takes a lot of focus when you're two, so she might not have detected my guidance.

Shoe management. Naomi decided that she should be the one to manage the onning and offing of shoes, and as nothing more than a schedule can be hurt or mussed when she takes charge or her footwear, I embraced this streak of independence. After some frustration, Naomi managed fairly well. I decided that as long as she can take her shoes off and put them on, she can also put them away by herself. It's a work in progress (independence is only fun if it's on her terms).

Carseat entering and exiting. This is all fine and good, until we're in a hurry, and then we can't hear the radio over Naomi's protests that she wanted to "get in carseat self!"

Practicing for the real thing.

Egg breaking. Naomi loves to choose the egg and help me break it, preferably by squeezing it until it explodes in her hand. Mommy only learned this lesson the hard way once. Naomi, however, would be happy to do it "all by self" again. Fortunately, she has accepted that this is a together-task.

Turning on and off lights. To be completely independent, Naomi needs to find a stool or chair, drag it across multiple types of flooring and position it close enough to the light switch that she'll be able to access it. As it turns out, the task can be insanely frustrating. I've learned not to jump in until Naomi asks for help, lest I get my head bitten off in toddler-ese, and sometimes she can manage surprisingly well. Other times she ends up a puddle of tears. And still other times, she nicely comes and asks for help, and doesn't resent me for providing it.

Dressing. At first I thought, "poor Naomi, she's not even close to having the skills she needs to dress herself! As it turns out, she is close to having the skills she needs to dress herself when she's motivated enough and when Mommy lines everything up perfectly without her noticing. But still not there yet.

Pottying. While it's only an occasional hobby at this point, at least she can do it and is proud of it.

Gluing, cutting, taping. Thanks to so much insistent practice, Naomi's not half-bad at these skills and also likes to hang her pictures up on the fridge and the walls so she can admire them later. She also has an excellent pencil grip that I'm never going to let her lose.

And lots more tiny, random, things that mean a whole lot to a young two-year-old but not much to anyone else: "Naomi put diaper in trraaaashhh!!!" she sobbed not long ago after I tossed a particularly stinky one. Insignificant as they are, these bouts of independence take me completely off guard, especially when I can't understand her through her raging emotions.

The best part is, Naomi is so proud about some of her pint-sized accomplishments, bolstered by the fact that her big sisters are usually more than willing to cheer her on. "Yay, Naomi!!! You got in your carseat!!! What a big girl!!!"

Unfortunately, however, Naomi soon picked up on the fact that it's much easier to have Mommy take off your shoes than to do it yourself. Same goes with cleaning up your spills and picking up your trash, and much of the rest. *sigh*

Other cute things Naomi does:
- Repeats everything I say as a question, as though whatever I've stated is incredible. Me: "I'm going to go wash dishes." Naomi: "Wash dishes?!" Me: "There's the brown stool if you want to help." Naomi: "The brown stool?!" Me: "Let's put on an apron so you don't get all wet." Naomi: "Get all wet?!" And so it goes. It's really cute, but sometimes it annoys Elise ("Naomi always repeats everything I say!")
-Pretends to be a baby kitten, baby bird, baby bunny and all the rest. Either way, she crawls around, and I'm the parent kitten/bird/bunny, and I must pick her up and feed her imaginary food. Even if it's just a ploy to get me to pay attention to her more, I'm totally fine with that.
-Makes jokes. "Daddy, you're an alligator!" When clearly he's not. Most of them are super-obvious, but goofy just the same.
-Enjoys pigtails.

Despite, or perhaps because
of, Naomi's blossoming
independence, she wasn't
allowed near the caramel
apples her big sisters were
making!

And what are the big sisters up to? Elise is close to riding her bike without training wheels, plus she can read (a little), write (a little) and add and subtract better than many kindergarteners. She's learning piano, learning how to tie her shoes, learning everything that her big sister is learning (it seems) and creating a fairy kingdom behind the landscaping in the front yard (one of these days she's certain to trap a fairy!). Kalina quickly learned how to play the tin whistle all by herself and has discovered she has perfect pitch. She's enjoying nature, also learning to ride without training wheels (albeit reluctantly) and still preferring to read about fairies rather than anything else (although she's also happy to dig into books about ancient China, talking animals from 100 years ago and Helen Keller). Kalina enthusiastically picked up sign language, and happily tags along on or spearheads lots of Elise's fairy and/or kitten adventures. She and Elise are fascinated by Laura Ingalls Wilder and leaf piles. I would blog about all of it if I weren't busy raising kids. Maybe some of it, sometime.