Only Two?

Sometimes (often) I have to remind myself that Abi is only 2 years old. Well, two and a half as of a couple days ago.
As I've said so many times before, she is very independent. Sure, she's been using the toilet for well over a year now, but at first she needed my help to get on, then I got her a step stool to help at the toilet and sink because she wanted to do it herself, but I still usually had to move the stool into place for her, then she was moving the stool herself (it's pretty big because it's two steps), and now she forgoes the stool and lifts herself onto the toilet before she moves the stool over to the sink to wash her hands. My offers to help are often met with "mom, you can go downstairs/to your office".

That's just one illustrative example of what she can and wants to do on her own.
At other times, however, she wants help. Or perhaps more accurately, she wants others to interact with her, so she claims she can't do it - when we know she can and does.
Other times she gets frustrated by simple things, like trying to unzip her sweater. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is stuck. When she's frustrated and making the situation worse by trying too hard, I have to remember that she's only 2! She hasn't yet grasped the concept of letting go and trying again.

Of course, I'm reminded every night when she doesn't want to sleep that she is 2.
And when I have to buckle and unbuckle her in the car seat.
And when she wants to nurse...
Or be carried because her "legs hurt" (I'd be more inclined to believe her if she didn't add that she can't walk because her arms hurt too from when she bumped into the door hours earlier.)

Thinking about it, I think we have a nice balance of independence and loving dependence (seeking comfort and interaction).