Today he played on the big toy in the park by himself for the first time. He used to insist that I come with him or at least stay within arms reach. He would never go down a slide without me holding his hand or going down with him.
Today started out the same as usual. He needed me right there. I kept telling him how fun it would be to go down the slide and he kept shaking his head "no". Then out of the blue he decided to give it a shot. The slides that are open-topped and do not have a step right before them are the easiest for him to do but he eventually got down the tube slide with the stair right before the opening! Eventually, he didn't even need me to be at the bottom of the slide to go down.
I know this must sound so lame to those of you with children who have been doing this very thing since they were 18 months or whatever but to me this is big. We have been so connected and he has been so dependent on me for so long, it's a little heart breaking...and yet I am so happy that he is doing things other kids do.
Other signs that he is getting to be a "little boy" instead of my "baby":
He has just realized in the last couple weeks that just because I put him in bed at night does not mean he has to STAY in bed. After about 10 minutes I hear the pitter-patter of little feet. After explaining to him that he needs to stay in bed even if he isn't sleeping he normally only comes out if his music stops playing and he wants it back on.
He has started to scale EVERYTHING. He climbs his built in desk/shelves, the counter tops, he tries to get to the top of the refrigerator, everything . And yet, he is still so careful for a toddler. Once on top he doesn't jump off (he won't even jump off the stairs) or even get too close to the edge. This doesn't stop me from being totally freaked out by it.
Signs that other people think he is not a baby anymore:
I get a lot more looks when I am carrying him or when I put him in the seat of the cart when I am at the store. I guess most kids his age just follow their parents around and most parents have a smaller child by now to be carrying and putting in the seat.
Perhaps it is time to stop these and other such things...it is just easier for me to do them. I mean, he can climb into the car and into his car seat it just takes him 45-60 seconds when I can do it in 5 you know? His legs just get in the way a lot....and when it comes to the store and everywhere else he has the nasty habit of not staying with me...I don't know...this is such a normal problem it is kind of nice.
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