mr. independent

Kai reminds me so much of myself when I was a little girl. I know most children go through an "independent" phase where they want to do everything for themselves, but I never got out of that phase. I am a very independent person, ask my parents. They still get frustrated with me. And up until the time when Kai was 2 years old, I didn't understand why they got so frustrated- but now I know! It is great, however, that Kai is wanting to become a separate little being aside from us. He wants to put on his seat belt, make his own chocolate milk, go to the bathroom, and get dressed: a mismatched long-sleeve shirt in the middle of summer, crazy pajama pants and the left shoe on the right foot and the right shoe on the left foot! It's a wonderful thing being able to tell Kai to put on his clothes when we're getting ready and forget about getting him dressed. I must confess that sometimes I will purposely tell him to go put on his sandals so I can get him out of my hair for fifteen minutes (that's really how long it takes him to put them on). I know, I'm a horrible mom, but I need my sanity sometimes! Making his bed is his newly acquired skill. It's so cute! I couldn't resist taking the camera out and capturing this right of passage from toddlerhood into childhood (sniff sniff).