All By Herself

I was just thinking about how much being almost five has changed how I see Maeve, how much more I'm willing to let her try for herself. She's still both very dependent on me, yet ready to try doing lots of things on her own.  We try to let her solve her own problems before we jump in, too, which isn't easy, but she's getting big enough to stop, think, and try to reason her way out of a fix.

When we take walks, I let her run ahead or lag behind, and we wait for each other at the corner. I can trust her to stay on the sidewalk, to stay out of other people's yards, etc.

She chooses all her own outfits, can brush her own hair and choose her own shoes, and put them on with just a quick check to make sure they're on the right feet. Speaking of which, she knows her right from her left, knows that the mountains are West of us, and that Kansas is to the East.

She can pour her own bowl of cereal, clear her table after dinner, feed the dog, and help pick up after him.  She can zip her own coat, and tie knots, but she's not tying her own shoes yet. She can put her own gloves on, though, and boy, is that awesome! I really hated the struggle of trying to get her to put on her gloves.

I love seeing how much she knows how to do; she even wrote her name with the V right side up yesterday, which is one of the things that's hardest for her. Progress!

She also knows a few yoga positions!