My Do It

I think that I am actually in denial that Luke's 2nd birthday is rapidly approaching. Two! Already! As cliche as it is, almost every day I find myself asking "where does the time go?" as he becomes less of a baby and more of a toddler. I now completely understand how the youngest child is typically branded "the baby" of the family. When Elise was a baby, we were always so eager and excited to see what came next. With Lucas, we now know how quickly it goes so we savor and relish in every second with absolutely no rush for him to grow any more - now or ever! Lucas, however, seems to want to have nothing to do with my evil-genius plan to make him stay a baby for all of eternity (which is probably a good thing!).

In recent weeks, Lucas has begun to proclaim and advocate for his independence and once and for all shed himself of the "baby" label. One of his new favorite phrases (other than "Kitty cat ran away" and "All done!") is "My do it!" He does not want help. Ever. He wants to do everything on his own. He wants to put on his own clothes and shoes, open his own door and yogurt container, buckle his own car seat, etc. The frustrating thing about the "my do it" phase for all parties involved is that most of the time, can actually can't do it. He is not yet coordinated enough to put on his own t-shirt or buckle his seat belt. However, even though most of the time he has to let someone help him eventually, it never, ever stops him from trying. He really, really wants to do everything himself and it's only a matter of time before all that practice will translate into new skills and a new found independence.

In other growing up news, next week Lucas will make his official "transition" at school from the Infant/Toddler Class to the Transition Class. When Elise went through this process (two years ago!) it was a huge adjustment. It's a big change for a little one. While of course it's still the same school and many of the same kids, it is a little disorienting to go to a new class with new teachers and new expectations - particularly since Lucas has been in the Infant/Toddler class with the same teachers since he was three months old. Changing up his very consistent routine is going to take a little bit of getting used to. As a child who has always been relatively go with the flow, I am curious to see how he will take this change. We have tried to talk about it, but I am not sure he understands what is about to happen. We shall see!

Lucas is also on the brink on entering the friend phase. While of course he still does a lot of parallel play, he does interact well with other children and has started gravitating toward some classmates at school. I am curious to see if his budding friendships with Amit, Ravi and Miranda (who the teachers say are "wrestling" and play buddies) will continue and grow and blossom the way Elise's friendships have with Sara Jane and Audrey (who she started gravitating toward at this same age). Luke has also seemed to take a particular interest in our new neighbor, three year old Saira, who he talks about constantly. Every time he hears her voice (we live in row homes so our houses are very close and we hear her often) he gets excited and shouts Saira! and looks around expectantly. She has less of an interest in being his buddy at this point, but Lucas is persistent enough (see: love for cats) that I am sure they will eventually be best buds.

While I am battling my own internal struggle with watching my baby grow up, I am also very proud of the strides that he is taking. He is becoming his own person - with interests and opinions and passions - and it IS exciting to watch him figure out the world. But I love that he still likes to hold my hand.