Independence - Beckett is sooo her Mother's Child

Today I made a "wost parent ever" move - although it was an accident.  Let me explain (because many of you will say "that's nothing") - I had just gotten out of the shower and Beckett bursts through the bathroom door,  fully dressed (when I got in the shower 13 minutes earlier, she was still downstairs with Chuck and clad only in a pull-up) - when I saw her fully dressed, I assumed that Chuck had helped her get dressed - she said "Mama, I'm ready to go" and I said "I see that Beckett but (and here is the worst parent move) I think you have your shirt on backwards."  Beckett is 2 years and 4 months old and already knows how to dress herself - for the most part.  Usually she gets dressed with one of us with her, helping get the shirt over her head and pants pulled completely over the booty - but today - she had fully dressed herself on her own - and she was coming into the bathroom beaming with pride at her accomplishment (which I didn't realize until a few minutes later) and what did I do?  Pointed out the one thing that she had done wrong!  I am such an ass!! 

As I was pointing out that her shirt was on backwards, I knelt down and showed her that the words were in the front (she knows that tags or words go in the back) - while I was showing her this, I realized that she had probably dressed herself without Chuck's help -so I asked her if this was the case and she forgot about my criticism and said "yes, Mama, I did it ALL BY MYSELF!"  So I looked her right in the eyes and told her that she did an excellent job and we didn't need to turn her shirt around - and her big, beaming smile came back - and she started telling me all about the steps she took to dress herself - which comes from watching Special Agent Oso, who does everything in 3 or 4 o5 "special steps."

After I finished getting dressed, we went downstairs to leave the house with Chuck - and he confirmed that he had not helped her - he had told her to go get dressed but expected that I would intercept and help her once I got out of the shower.  We were both kind of astounded - this is the first time that she has gone up to her room, picked clothes out of her drawers on her own, and put them on her body without some help.  It may seem like a little thing but it's big to us.

And then this afternoon, she once again asserted herself - and gave us all a great giggle. We had eaten a late lunch and watched some of the Broncos game at Smokey Bones, a chain BBQ restaurant.   After we were in in the car, she was kind of jacking around with her car seat belt and not getting it buckled - I have taken a new tact in the past couple of months to get her to do things - I tell her that I'm going to count to three and if I get to three, then I'm going to do whatever it is for her - this, for Beckett, is a fate far worse than timeout or the withholding of a treat - there is nothing that makes her more angry then someone taking away her independence in completing a task.  So, since she was not getting her seat belt on so we could go,  I said "one" and she started kind of giggling and said "If I get to free then I'm going to do it ALL BY MYSELF...one, two, free!  I do it myself!"  Chuck and I were laughing our asses off - and so was she - but she also started to hurriedly snap all her buckles together and got it done fast!  I think counting to three will still work but I couldn't believe she had cleverly used it against me, in a way.  That Beckett - she is soooooo her mother's child.