Steps

R has started walking. Yesterday she took her first step. Today, she walked five - at least this is what O has told me. For some unknown reason, R is hiding her walking abilities from me. It is disconcerting that she is keeping this milestone from me. R and I spend 24 - 7 together. O she sees more or less on the weekends. Maybe she is saving the big moments for her Dad to impress him.
This is the end of her infancy. From now on she will be a toddler, not a baby. I feel sad thinking about her not being a baby anymore. Only now, after two children, can I see how short babyhood really is. Slowly, over the first year of life they become less needy. At first, the mother is the baby's sole supply of food and warmth. Then babies start eating solid food. They are control their own body temperature. They begin the crawl, then walk and talk. Than came move away from you and get their needs met from other adults and other means. And with the new found freedom a mother gains, there is also a sadness that this super-demanding, special time is ending. Soon R will be running. R is no longer a baby. (I feel like breaking out a guitar and singing "Cats in the Cradle", feel free to join in.)