"No, I do it!"

We have reached the stage of independence. The stage of wanting to do everything himself. The stage where it takes an extra fifteen minutes to get out the door because Gavin adamantly insists, "No I do it!" along every step of the way.

Right now his newest accomplishment is putting on his winter boots all by himself. This requires great patience from Mommy & Daddy when we are in a hurry, because Gavin is definitely NOT.

We want to encourage this new found independence. They are necessary life skills that he will need to master. But sometimes I just want to shove on his boots and run out the door!

We recently got him a baby doll to help prepare him for the new baby. I was hoping it would help him practice being gentle etc. He has been very nurturing to the doll so far, putting it to sleep in his bed and taking it for rides in his toy stroller. The first day he got it, I brought out some of Gavin's newborn clothes so we could dress the doll. Gavin was really into it and he insisted on putting on the baby's socks all by himself. He sat there for what felt like an eternity as he tried over and over to get the tiny sock on the tiny foot. I wanted to help him SO BADLY and it was so hard to sit back and watch him struggle. But he was determined. FINALLY, he got the sock dangling off the tip of the baby's toe and he sat back and proudly declared, "I did it!!" He was so proud of himself. My perfectionist tendencies were screaming at me to fix the sock but I resisted the urge (at least until he wasn't paying attention anymore).