I Do

"I do." These are words you normally hear at a wedding ceremony. For us these days, we are hearing them often, but no one's getting married. Lucy has hit that oh-so-wonderful stage where she wants to do things herself. When we try to help her with something that she thinks she can do on her own, she says "I do." It's a predictable part of toddlerhood and only frustrating when we're in a hurry or her attempts at 'doing' cause a mess. As in this morning, when she decided to take her cereal bowl to the kitchen after breakfast. Unfortunately, the bowl wasn't empty, and she's two. In the process of getting down from her chair it was impossible for her not to spill it, and I was left cleaning up the milk and Cheerios off the floor (even better--we have a carpeted dining room). Last night she brought her bowl with macaroni and cheese from the table to the kitchen, and in trying scrape her food into the trash, some of it landed on the floor (but in all honesty, that happens when our 5, 7, and 9 year olds clean their plates, too, so maybe we should cut her some slack.).

She especially likes to dress herself--with both feet in the same pant leg almost every time. She also thinks she's supposed to put her shirt on like her pants--legs first. We try to show her how to put it over her head, but you must remember that as soon as we try to stop her from putting her feet in the shirt she starts fussing at us, "NO! I do!"