In case there was any question out there, I am a determined, motivated, independent little man. From a very early age (Yes! Even earlier than 2-years-old.), I have wanted to do things all by myself. Sometimes this is messy, like when I wanted to feed myself oatmeal before I had really mastered getting the spoon from the bowl to my mouth. And sometimes this can be very helpful, like when I want to put on Tessa’s diaper or fold laundry with Mom and Dad. Anyway, I want to try almost everything and I want to do it without help.
When I decide to do this, I say, “Riley do it himself.” If it is something that I can’t really do all alone, and if Mom and Dad keep trying to help me, I will start to wail, jump up and down, and yell repeatedly, “Riley do it himself! Riley do it himself!” If it is something that I did all alone, kind of in secret, and then I show Mom and Dad, I will say proudly, while pointing to indicating what I did, “Riley did it himself.” There are many different ways that I can say it, and-of course-they all mean something just a little bit different.
Because I really enjoy recounting events (or telling on Emmett or Tessa) I often use this phrase to tell a story. For instance, I was telling Mom that I was outside playing with Dad and Tessa and Emmett and I fell down and hurt my leg. When Dad brought me inside to get a band-aid, I opened it up and put it on all by myself. But this is how it came out: “Riley outside. Fell. Owe-y leg. Owe-y leg. Inside. Inside come. Daddy band aid. And.. And… And… Riley did it himself. Trash, band aid. Riley did it himself. Leg. Band aid, leg. Owe-y all gone. Owe-y all gone. Riley did it himself.” Imagine all of that said, pacifier in mouth, while nodding earnestly.
I can dress myself now, shirt and pants-although sometimes I prefer to have help with the pants. In that case, I say, “Mommy do it herself.” I can put my shoes on myself, too. I can clean up my own messes and I can go upstairs to get my bunny when I’ve left her behind. But in both of those cases, I often ask, “Mommy clean up herself?” or “Daddy get bunny himself?”
I like to ask Emmett stuff. Like when we are driving, when we hit this one point in the neighborhood, I always say, “Emmett, you see the big truck?” But sometimes I ask, “Emmett, shirt himself?” or “Emmett, binket himself?” (That last one would be that Emmett got his blanket all by himself.) Suffice it to say, we are all doing things all by ourselves now.
Later,
R
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