Sasha has begun the lengthy and arduous process of learning how to take care of herself. The learning curve on this is years, nay, decades, so I don't expect any miraculous leaps into independence yet, but her attempts are truly noble and worthy of documenting.
First, there is the matter of feeding herself via utensil. Sasha clearly knows how to operate a spoon. She knows about putting the spoon into the food and stirring it. She also knows how to insert the spoon into her mouth. In fact, when you give her a wooden spoon and an empty piece of Tupperware, this is exactly what she does; pretend cooking, I suppose.
The parts in between, alas, are still hazy, and so a lot of her comestibles detour to her lap en route. She does not understand the fork, though they excite her tremendously. She does understand drinking from an open cup, but lacks a certain, shall we say, finely-honed control that would make this practical for her. She also isn't entirely clear on the part where you turn the cup sideways when it is NOT near your mouth, and all the fluid inside is suddenly gone. And sometimes, though not always, defying all prediction, you become wet. A mystery for the ages.
Sasha also brushes her own teeth. She has her own little baby toothbrush, and her own little baby fluoride-free toothpaste. I prepare her toothbrush for her every morning and every night, and she happily brushes away. It's endearing. However, she does not generally brush her teeth, per se. Let's just say that she gets the air inside her mouth (and sometimes her tongue) exceedingly clean.
She is trying very hard to take a more participatory role in getting dressed. So far, this means vigorously sticking an arm through the neck of her clothing, and getting upset when I try to correct the matter. She has also tried to dress herself all on her own. Typically, she grabs a piece of laundry (say, a pair of my underwear) and attempts to don it by, say, wrapping it around her neck. I can see she is fashion-forward, already going for shock value. I shall have to take this into consideration when shopping for her fall wardrobe.
Sasha is also taking her hair care more and more into her own hands. This began several weeks ago, when she decided she would no longer tolerate having her hair in a ponytail topknot any longer. This resulted, before too long, in a new hairstyle, with bangs. From time to time since then, she has tried to apply her own hair accessories, but since her method involves putting the hair tie or barrette on top of her head and then going on her merry way, she has achieved only limited success. She does brush her own hair now. Again, she has her own sense of style, and primarily brushes it all straight forward. With the back of the brush. But hey, if she likes what she sees when she looks into the mirror, it's not my place to question her judgement.
On a side note, she has sprouted tooth #5. We've also gotten her to walk as many as five or six steps, on her own, without holding onto anything. Her walking range if an adult is holding onto her hands is practically limitless, and yesterday, she walked the length of the mall this way. It won't be long until she's running.
My kitchen is: Dark and gloomy. My tomatoes are turning blue. The garbage is overflowing. But by this time tomorrow, it will be squeaky clean and lovely. Haha, I love being lazy and bourgois! And I'm going to play SimCity 4 all night! Haha! Take THAT, social conscience!
Posted by andrea at August 4, 2003 05:17 PM