Hair today

When Biscuit was just learning to talk, and he wanted to do something on his own, he would say, "I do it my byself."

And lately, he's been on a big "my byself" kick.

Biscuit is convinced that he is fully capable of doing everything that needs to be done. And although I greatly admire his gumption, we still have to help him out with certain things. And just like when he was little, he still doesn't like it!

When I went to the informational meeting about kindergarten, they told us a list of things the kids need to be able to do before they start school. And Biscuit can do most of those things. And he takes care of most of his "getting ready" stuff, too.

Academically ...

• Alphabet: He knows all his letters and can write them uppercase and lowercase.
• Numbers: He knows his numbers and can write them. He can count to 999. Granted, I haven't heard him do it, but he'll tell you that when you get to 199, you then go to 200 and when you get to 299, you then go to 300, etc.
• Name: He can write his first and last name.
• Scissors: He can cut okay, although he really doesn't like to do it. (My child does not like art projects, and that just breaks my heart!)
• Reading: He recognizes about 60 words and can point them out when we're reading.
• Math: He can do simple addition. Like today, he was looking at some Legos on the floor, and he said, "Well, I have four in this pile and four in that pile, and that's eight."
• Sorting and patterns: He's really good at figuring out how things should be separated and when a pattern is in play.
• Reading comprehension: His daycare teacher laughs at how Biscuit can almost recite a book after he hears it. It would make me so, so happy if Biscuit's love of books stuck with him.
• Critical thinking: Biscuit is pretty good at reasoning things out. He sorta gets the concept of cause and effect.

Personally ...

• Teeth: He brushes his own teeth (although we still "check" them when he's done).
• Bathroom: He can do paperwork by himself, and he knows what happens in urinals and what happens in stalls.
• Clothes: He's been dressing himself for what seems like forever.
• Shoes: It's hard to find shoes for kids his age that have laces, so he can't tie shoes. Although, he can get the Velcro straps done up just right.
• Hair: He makes a fine attempt at combing his own hair. (Although he still can't get his part straight, and that bugs the heck out of Jeff.)

It's been hard letting him do more on his own because we've just been used to doing things for him for so long. And the funny thing is, most of the time, you don't even realize that you're doing it. It's like muscle memory. Not to mention the fact that it is SO much quicker to do things for him.

So especially in the past few weeks, Jeff and I have been working hard to let Biscuit do a lot more things for himself. Our biggest problem is being okay with the not-so-great efforts on some things.

Like Biscuit's hair.

When Jeff combs Biscuit's hair, you could hold a ruler up to the part, and it would be just that straight! But when Biscuit does it, the part is all over the place. But I've been really proud of Jeff's patience, especially when he lets Biscuit walk out the door with not-combed-well hair.

Biscuit is just so dang independent. And as much as I realize it's good for him, it's both sad and frustrating for Jeff and me. This whole parenting thing is hard!

One of Biscuit's first hair-combing attempts.

But he was very proud of his efforts.

I told Jeff, "Ultimately, you don't have to worry
about the part because no matter how carefully
you style Biscuit's hair, it always ends up
straight down on his forehead anyway!