Mr. Capable

It wouldn't be quite right to call John "Mr. Independent" because I think he's still way more attached to my company than a lot of kids his age. But I can call him "Mr. Capable"! I had been thinking that he'd never show interest in dressing himself when, quite suddenly within the last six weeks or so, John has simply launched! (As an aside, I find it humorous to follow my friend Janeane's blog as her daughter is just a few months older than John. So many times I've read about her daughter doing something and thought John would not be able to do that for so long and then, voila, a few months later John is doing it too!)

It may seem small, but it's so neat to me to be mostly relieved of dressing John now. I can hand him an outfit and he just does it all himself. Then yesterday I did an experiment of moving John's clothing from hanging high in his closet to the low drawers of his bureau. I showed him that one drawer was for pants, one was for shirts, and one for undies and socks (and gloves and hats). Last night John threw up (just food gagging, not illness) all over his clothing, so I stripped him. Then I suggested that he could go upstairs himself and find his own new outfit, which he did and he was so proud of himself. He came down beaming, saying, "I chose this outfit!"

This morning I sent him to his room to get dressed and he was thrilled to pick his very own outfit. He showed me in detail how he chose these pants, a long-sleeve shirt because it is winter, and gloves because it is cold outside. He knew we were going on an errand, so he grabbed a pair of socks too. My big boy, I can hardly believe it!