Milestones: walking

The boy is walking.  Not wobbling, walking.  He waited 14 months, but now that he's walking, he's all over it.  I remember his friend walking at 11 months, every step looked like a disaster waiting to happen.  Apparently with a couple extra months under his belt to steady himself, the boy was all over it.  My sister-in-law tells me that he walked my nephews all the way to school this week; granted its only a 5 minute trip, but still.

It's amazing how much older standing upright makes him seem.  Last week he was moving pretty quick, but I could still convince myself that he was a baby.  Now calling him, "my baby" just seems unrealistic.  He is a toddler now, my little boy is so big and independent.

I know its just one of many milestones that we will share together; even though I know there are so many more to come, I try to treasure each one as if it is the first.  Sometimes I wish that life could slow down, but I fear that wasting too much time savouring moments of the past, puts me at risk of missing the present.

That doesn't change the fact that I have moments, twinges even, when I'm sad that the boy doesn't need me in quite the same way anymore.  I know he will always need me, I know that how he needs me will naturally evolve over time and I know that when he needed me for everything it was tiring, frustrating and difficult, but I can't help myself. I still have moments where I miss being his everything.

Do you?