Our little two-year-old isn’t the only one experiencing a burgeoning independence. LP, our four-year-old, is getting mighty independent too. Allow me to elaborate . . .
Yesterday LP decided he wanted to cook something all by himself. Originally he wanted to make a dessert with “bananas, salt, ummmm . . . pepper and greens!” I suggested cinnamon instead of the salt and pepper, and mentioned that he could cook bananas in butter (Earth Balance). He was excited about these ideas, but would not be swayed from adding greens.
When the time for dessert came, LP chopped the bananas, scooped the butter, listened for the “sizzle” in the pan, added the cinnamon and the greens. The only things I did was turn the stove on, help to flip the bananas, and generally hover around the stove making sure it was the bananas, and not my child’s fingers, getting seared.
LP was quite proud of his dessert. He and IP gobbled most of it up, but he left one piece for me and the G-man. I went ahead and tried the whole combo, greens included, and it was surprisingly delicious. Actually, thinking back on it, I wonder if we could con convince someone to pay $6 a plate for this delicacy!
For this next example I must provide a TMI warning. This next segment might be include too much information that you don’t want to know, especially if you haven’t guided a child through a year of developing potty prowess.
A few days ago I was doing dishes and LP wandered off and went to the bathroom. When he came back he said “Mommy, I don’t think I told you what I can do yet! Do you want to hear about the new thing I can do?”
“Sure” I said. “Tell me about the new thing you can do.”
“I go potty standing up now!”
I turn to him in surprise. “Really? When did this start?”
He proceeded to explain to me that he only stands up to go pee, not poo (good plan), he sometimes forgets and sits down instead (well, who doesn’t?!) and that he learned from “watching Daddy” (I wonder if the G-man knows how much our little guy is learning from him!)
All in all a busy week for LP. He really is a big kid now!
