Mr. Independent

I guesss independence comes with toddler-hood and as we begin to close in on two years, independence seems to be Caleb's new title.  His independence brings new-found independence for mama too. 

It is hard to explain my feelings but mama-hood and parenthood is taking on a completely new look and feel, and I don't feel ready!  My ever-fading "baby" seems to be totally gone.  I have a tall, lanky, independent little boy on my hands now.  And that changes things.  Our relationship to Caleb is changing, boundaries are changing, discipline approach is changing, interactions are changing and our daily routine is changing.  Just when you think you've figure things out and have a good thing going, you hit new milestones and it all changes again.

Caleb likes to do everything for himself, by himself now....he frequently reminds us with a frustrated "no, no, NO....do SELF!" (tranlsation: stop helping me (or doing it for me) I want to do it by myself).

We now have the beginnings conversations with our little boy (versus just talking endlessly to him).  We say something, he responds back or asks questions or voices opinions.  This also comes with him interrupting OUR conversations a lot and the beginnings of lots of questions...."mama, DOING?" (translation: What is mama doing or what are you doing?) or "turtle say?" (translation: What does a turtle say...to which I still have no good answer, what DOES a turtle say?).

Caleb has definite ideas about how things should be done.  For instance, he wants THREE scoops of yogurt, not two and not four.  He wants us to go down the slide on our tummy NOT sitting up.  He wants to wear his "choo choo shoes" not his "brown shoes."  Yesterday he wanted to take his  nap at 11:30am (instead of his usual 1pm).  He came and told me, I laid him down and he went right to sleep.  Weird. 

One of my favorite things lately is when he wants me to do something or he wants to show me something, he comes and finds me, takes my hand and says, "show me." (He frequently mixes up pronouns, what he  means to say is "show you")

And with all this independence, he is starting to play on his own more and more and for longer periods of time.  I find myself able to actually do things again without someone pulling on my legs, crying or interrupting me - Spelling new found freedom for mama as well. 

Several times throughout the day I will realize it is really quiet and find him in random corners of the house, deeply engrossed in one activity or another. Below are some recent pictures:

Yes, I found him sitting naked on his potty, reading his daddy's football magazine.....Wow.

Any tips or ideas for this stage of parenthood would be greatly welcomed! I feel at a total loss and like I need to relate to him in a completely new and different way than I've been doing these past 19 months.  I don't know how to explain it, but it just feels like new territory. Totally different. Can anyone relate to this?