"My Turn"

Morgan is really starting to show a desire to become more independent! Lately she is communicating this desire by saying "My turn!" whenever she wants to do something without our help. Sometimes we also hear "I do it!" We are thrilled with this development!

Many times in the past I have heard of friends who will say that their kids start to assert their independence...and I've always thought "will Morgan ever do that?" She's always been comfortable with letting us help her do things like dress and undress her, put toys away, etc. Yes, she is starting to do this later than most kids, but I'm just glad she is doing it! Today she even insisted on putting on her own sneakers! Those are not easy shoes to put on! This tells me that her fine motor skills are really improving because she is feeling more and more confident in doing things like this on her own. We've now got her buckling herself into her own booster seat and buckling the chest strap on her car seat. You should see the look on her face when she completes these tasks. She is SO proud of herself! She gets a big smile and says "I did it!" Sometimes she claps for herself too. Piper has also started to imitate her clapping too!

I have also made a concerted effort lately to let Morgan do things on her own instead of helping her with them because it's faster or neater. Yesterday she also hung up her coat all by herself for the first time! Usually she says "please help with me." I kept asking her if she needed help and she would say "No!" Then I heard a happy "I did it!" and off she went to play with some toys. Go Morgan, go Morgan, go Morgan!