Today I had the opportunity to sit back several times and see what Rowan would do if given the chance to handle something himself. If you've seen Finding Nemo, you might remember the part where the sea turtle father lets his son, Squirt, find his way back into the East Australian Current rather than swimming to retrieve him immediately, as was Nemo's dad's instinct.
Every time Rowan has gone to the grocery store basically since he was old enough to know what a balloon was, he has gotten a balloon. Sometimes they're already blown up in the balloon "corral" at the front; other times it's empty or there isn't one in the color he wants, so the nice person behind the customer service counter cheerfully blows up one just for Rowan. This time we were in a bit of a hurry and when I saw the empty balloon corral I distracted Rowan by promising that we'd look for cantaloupe samples in the produce section (there were none). But he was good throughout the shopping and when I got in line to pay, he saw the customer service counter and the empty balloon corral and said, "I want to go get a balloon." I heard the sea turtle's voice saying, "Duuude, relax. Let us see what Squirt will do." So I lifted Rowan down out of the cart and told him he could walk up to the counter and wait for someone to come (there was nobody there at the time). It was quite a walk for a two-year old, some 20 feet with several shopping carts and people to walk around. But he did it, obediently looking back to make sure he could still see me (he was instructed that if he couldn't see Mommy then Mommy couldn't see him and there would be big trouble for that). He reached the counter and, seeing it was still unmanned, turned and looked at me. I motioned to him to stay and wait. He did. After finishing the customer who was two positions in front of me in line, our cashier noticed Rowan there and called on the telephone for someone to come to the customer service desk. Someone did. At first the employee looked puzzled and then he looked down and saw Rowan standing, watching him carefully, and silent. He said, "Can I help you?" Rowan giggled and did a little shy dance and I heard him say very quickly, "Yellow balloon, please," but in his language it came out, "Zhe-zhow boon, peese." The guy said, "You'd like a balloon?" Rowan answered, "Yes!" The man said, "What color?" Rowan repeated slowly, "Zhe-zhow." The man said, "Yellow! Excellent choice!" The man blew up the yellow balloon, tied it in a special adjustable knot to Rowan's wrist, and sent him on his way. By that time I was almost finished paying and Rowan came over to show off his new acquisition. Boy, did I ever see what my squirt can do!
Another example of this amazing self-sufficiency was when we got home with the groceries. I was unloading them when he spotted his grapes and asked for some. I quickly rinsed a few grapes, placed them in a bowl, and handed them to Rowan. After I finished putting away the other groceries, I joined Rowan at the table where he had carried the glass bowl full of grapes carefully, sat it on a placemat, and seated himself in front of it. I watched him pluck each grape off, inspect it for squishy or brown spots, and then eat all but one (that one he apparently did not deem worthy of consumption). Then, when the stem was empty he walked over and threw it in the trash. Then he came back, got his empty bowl, and took it back to the kitchen and sat it next to the sink. He walked back to me and said, "Did you enjoy watching me eat my snack?" Laughing hysterically inside, I replied calmly, "Yes, quite. Thank you for cleaning up after yourself." He said, "You're welcome. Can we walk Angel now?" It was time: "Yes, we can."