On "help me do it myself" puzzles

I should start writing what L. does, or these moments will belong to a continuous of time I won't be able to single out when I'll look back.

I'll start with puzzles.
I introduced puzzles gradually.
I started too early with a 3-circle puzzle. He must have been 12 months, more or less. He wasn't able to finish it and would just get frustrated.

L. spends very little time at home with his toys, and while his gross motor skills benefit *a lot* from daycare, quiet activities like stacking, matching, puzzling (..) are left on the side. At around 15 months I offered again the 3-circle puzzle and was a hit.
I also took a video that would be a perfect Montessori spot, all about self-correction and repetition.

At around 16 months I introduced more circles, but it was too easy. So I went with single more complicated shapes. Square and triangle, first separately then together.

It worked.
By 19 months I wanted to scale it up a bit.
I offered again square and triangle that were out for rotation. He took some times to get that again, but now he passes by the shelf and fits them in, casually, between a tour on his little bike and a climbing adventure on the couch. I don't even notice him doing it most of the time, I just find the puzzle completed.
I'll leave them out as long as I find that he's using it.
And I offered this as well:

I like it, because he's guided by the image on the board, and because the knob are
I wasn't sure he would pick it up. He's in love with transportation now (and ambulances firetrucks dumpers diggers bulldozer), so I figured that the single pieces would meet his interested even if the puzzle was too hard.
I planned to offer some matching activities first, but I didn't find the time to make it, and now that I did, he doesn't seem to care.

It turned out it wasn't necessary. This morning (19.5m) he completed the puzzle by himself. Almost by himself, because he asked for help when I sat besides him, although there was only a piece missing.

Two beautiful links on toddler and puzzles:
12-18 months
18-24 months

Also, notice the way the puzzle is offered. Dismantled. It makes a key difference. And it helps for clean-up as well.

The tantrum I created

Yesterday we went for an evening pic-nic by the lake. L. loves the lake after the holidays ("mare, mare" = "sea, sea") and watching the sunset from the lake side is a lovely way to take advantage of these last summer days.

When it was already past his dinner time Luigi went to get take-out pizzas.
L. was busy - chasing swans, running through swarms of mosquitoes, meeting strangers, falling down steps. And fishing rocks out of the water and throwing them back in, his favourite.

I knew it was getting colder and he was wet, but resisted the urge to change him into a dry diaper immediately and I limited my self to warn him that I would to do it before pizzas arrived.
I waited.

Until Luigi came back with the pizzas.
I told him, I change your diaper while the pizza gets colder. First the diaper, then the pizza.
He threw a huge tantrum, kicking and screaming and crying. I stopped, validated his feeling, waited a bit. Eventually, I tried to offer him a small bite while I was changing him. But he didn't accept it. The kicking screaming went on until Luigi helped me putting the diaper on in a way that was all but respectful.

When we were done and we gave him his pizza, he calmed down immediately. We ate together and he chatted away while the light and the lake turned from orange to blue.

But I kept thinking - why did I change his diaper? He was obviously tired and hungry, not able to cooperate.
I try. To acknowledge, to wait. But also to be firm during transition, to follow through.
These last two are much harder for me, so much that sometimes I am much more firm than what is needed. I was blinded by my idea of having to have him dry before dinner.

I just had to wait.
Wait. The magical word. Step back a little, a little more.