Mr. Independence...

I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that my children are growing more independent. I love that Peyton can now be my little helper. As magical as that sounds, it doesn't always happen that way, but I am grateful when he will help me. {he's our mr. attitude} I hate when we go to grocery stores that have mini carts for the children. I have to admit that it is really cute watching him push around his little cart....until he smashes you in the back of the foot for the 300th time! That I really hate!

But then when he smiles at me like this, and says, "Sorry, Mom!" I am okay with it. Until he does it again and I turn around and kindly remind him with a half smile on my face, "Peyton sweetheart, please watch where you are going." He then snipes back with, "Well, if you would just get out of the way!" Okay. I hate this again.

Then we move onto Mr. Independence #2. I love when they get a mind of their own and have to do it all by themselves. Every morning I go through the same routine with Kael. After I pour him a bowl of cereal, he has to reach into the cereal box and grab a handful of cereal to adorn the top of the already poured cereal. After I pour the milk, he and ONLY he can put the lid back on the milk jug. When I pick out a spoon for his bowl of cereal it can't be a plastic kid spoon, it must be an adult metal spoon. Ridiculous right? Whatever we have to do to avoid a melt down.
Lately he has learned how to unscrew things. If he sees a bottle of water, he just helps himself by unscrewing the lid and taking a swig...and leaving little floating presents for me. Yum. I have caught him in my bathroom where he has climbed on the toilet, over onto the cabinet and is unscrewing medicine bottles...the type that claim to be "child proof".
The other day while we were getting ready to go to the gym he came and handed me a bottle of craft paint. First of all I wondered where in the world he had gotten this and then I looked at his face.

"Oh my gosh! Did you eat this?" {as there is a nice ring around his mouth and white paint all over his lips. duh mom!} I reached in his mouth and his spit was a bit milky. I was panicked thinking, "Oh great! My child eats paint now. Not surprised, but still he ate paint! Poison control is going to be hearing from us once again." I then read the back of the bottle and it said "non-toxic", so I figured that he would be okay, and he was.
I feel like I have a child that just learned how to crawl on my hands. Always worried about what they can get into, and what they can put into their mouths. He is definitely into a lot more than Peyton was ever into!