March 11, 2004 - Thursday
"Me do it."
I'm sure Harry used to say that too, when he was two, but somehow I don't remember it very well. Far more often with Harry these days the complaints are more about Harry not being able to do things on his own, needing help, but really attention. With Jeremy, "me do it" is a constant refrain and any deviation from his plan for independence and doing things himself, whenever that plan happens to apply and at his sole discretion, is a meltdown in the making. It's seems to me that this is classic first child-second child stuff. The older one, used to attention and reassurance from birth, continues to want it. The younger one, always aspiring to be like the older role model (and ultimately less doted on from birth) wants to show he can be a big boy, too.

Of course, with Jeremy, once we get past the basic inconvenience of these little episodes of independence (and the currently frequent need for time outs in the hallway), it's hard to take things too seriously. He's just so transparent about playing a role and it's impossible to get too worked up about. He's so obviously two and it seems completely temporary. On the other hand, there is some of that mischievousness about all this with Jeremy that I get the feeling will be around for years to come.


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