walking the line

over the past few days, i've realized not only how dealing with toddlers is stressful for adults, but also how hard it must be for the toddler! toddlerhood seems to straddle the fine line between independence and asking for help. every day the toddler wants to show off his independence, and even when you know they're frustrated, they don't want your help. you don't want to see your child frustrated, but you want to encourage the independence.

take for instance keegan's new obsession...getting dressed. it doesn't matter how many layers of clothing he already has on...if he finds a shirt, he must put it on. he generally tries to put it on like a pair of shorts first (which kind of makes sense...i mean there are places for the legs and all!), and then he gets it on his head...generally sideways. the whole time i'm saying "oh look at you! way to go buddy!" and he gets one arm in, and claps. YAY! then the other arm goes through the neck hole, and he can't get it out. but i can't help him because he refuses to let me...it's too early. after 5 minutes though, i don't fcare if he lets me or not, and i don't care how mad he gets! i back his arm out through the neck and tell him to try again. this time there is much more success, and he is very proud of doing it all by himself :) then he finds a pair of shorts and tries to put THOSE on. keep in mind he's now wearing a pair of shorts and 2-3 shirts. but his leg goes through the shorts, then the other leg...through the same leg hole. and he pulls them up as far as he can, and he claps...and depending on the shorts, they might get all the way up to his waist! so now he's walking around the house with 1 pair on the correct way, and with two legs in one hole...but again, he did it himself.

another new feat is getting the juice off the counter. and this is purely my fault. i'm lazy...i fully admit it. when i take the juice out, i pour my glass, and leave the pitcher on the counter. i'm only going back in 15 minutes for another glass anyway, so why bother putting it back in the fridge? i HAVE to get better at this now though, because keegan can reach the counters. and back when he was too short (which i swear was just last month!) he'd come ask for juice. life back then was grand! now he sees the juice on the counter and pulls it down...the top flying off the pitcher, juice spilled all over the floor, keegan covered in juice...and little calls for "hep! mommy! hep! joooo! hep!"

one time he will ask for help immediately though is when he changes the TV channel from what he wanted to watch. up until recently, keegan was a disney kid...watched it in the morning while we had breakfast, played with it on in the background, etc. but within the last week or so he has fallen in love with sesame street. not sure how it happened, but i won't argue with it since i really can't stand disney's special agent oso. now, keegan can fully work the remote. he knows what buttons change the channel, he knows the volume, mute, and last channel. he can also turn the tv on and off. he'll watch sesame street, and sing and dance, and point out elmo and cookie. it's very cute to see it! LOL! and i will go off and make a shopping list, find coupons, take a quick shower...whatever. he'll play with the remote, turn it up and down, on and off, change channels back and forth, and mute/unmute. sometimes though,, he changes the channel to where he can't get it back. and he'll run up with the remote yelling "mommy hep! oh no! elmo!"

ok really? you're blurring the line even more now sweetheart! you'll put clothes on so you can't walk, you'll drag juice off the counter, you'll climb stairs, go on the slide...you don't want help with anything! but elmo disappears and it's the end of the world? geez!