Love is independence. Actually, love is a child feeling safe enough to explore their independence. Ella is developing a bit of an independent streak and it is fascinating to watch her figure out her little world that she’s a part of. She has started “asking” if it’s okay to do certain things. She asks by looking intently at or pointing to the object or activity in question, looking at me with eyebrows raised and vigorously nodding her head up and down. When I respond with my own nod and tell her yes, you should see the smile that spreads across this child’s face. I imagine that the thoughts running through her head are something to the effect of “Yes! She fell for it! I get to rummage through this cabinet/eat this snack/go in this room/etc.”

This picture is a recent one of Ella exploring the microwave cart in our dining area. The kitchen and dining area are gated off, mostly due to the fact that she really used to think that playing in the cats’ water was really fun. But now that she’s past that (mostly), I’ve been letting her in with me to explore on her own. I swear she realizes that I trust her and she’s doing her best to keep out of the cat bowls.

It does my heart good to watch her grow, and be able to facilitate that. I also feel a sense of satisfaction because as she is exploring and being independent, she always checks to make sure I’m close by. I love to see her look for me or bring me a treasure that she found to show me and then go back to her own play. And as much fun as she has and as cute as she is, I still won’t let “explore” the cat bowls :)

Related Link:
Read all the Love Thursdays