My son doesn't need me anymore...

In every fathers life a little independence must fall. I have noticed over the last few weeks that Ryan doesn't seem to need me for as many things as he used to. There was a time when he couldn't roll over, sit up, or feed himself without my help. This eventually changed, and he gradually came to be able to do all of those things - he can even "help" make his sandwich for lunch, and he knows where all his fruit snacks, raisins, and yogurts are located even if his dad is clueless.

I love the fact that he is growing up, because along with this independence comes greater vocabulary, balance, speed, and sense of humor. He loves telling me jokes, most of which have no detectable punchline, but they are funny anyway because of his facial expressions. His taste in music is getting to be a little better (see previous post for evidence of this), and he is able to pick out his own clothes and get dressed with little or no guidance from me. This can result in some interesting clothing combinations including this gem from the other day: pajama pants, black socks, button down shirt complete with tie, and water wings. He is the kid from Big Daddy. Mostly, though, he picks out good combinations and we have no issues.

I have heard the phrase "No, dad! I can do it myself!" about 10 times today alone, and I hear things like "Don't worry dad, I can do it" fairly often as well. The list of things he can do himself is growing every day, but unfortunately that list also includes things like:

• He can climb into the refrigerator and get his own pudding. This sounds harmless, except that our refrigerator is a bottom freezer model and the pudding he wants is 5 1/2 feet up in the air.
• He can get into the tub, turn on the water, and put his toys in there all by himself. A good thing if someone is in there watching him, but feed your 9 month old son at the wrong time and you are likely to have a very wet, fully clothed 4 year old on your hands.
• He can get out his own toothbrush and toothpaste and brush his teeth on his own. This is often very handy, but he also can get out MY toothbrush and clean the toilet with it. Trust me - this is something that you allow to happen once and only once. We now have a supply of extra toothbrushes in a separate closet in case the current one looks a bit more frayed than it did the last time it was used.
• He can also wipe his own butt (YEA!) and wash his own hands after going to the bathroom. Along with these skills comes the fact that he can get himself onto the counter and spread lotion all over our giant mirror because the mirror looked like it was too dry.

Never mind. He does need me. Possibly now more than ever!

Ok. Now where is he...