And it begins

First thing this morning Henry wanted to give Walter a new nuk, and had a small conniption when I encouraged him to give his brother a different one. Finally I relented and Henry, standing over his brother, nuk in hand, looked at me and said, "Go away, Mama!" He clearly was going to "gently cram" the nuk into his brother's face without me or my help. Clearly, this was between him and his Baby Walter.

I got it again at the pool - last day of swim class - as we waited for our group to come together, he told me to go away. This time it was slightly different. He looked around after saying it and I thought, oh, he is practicing his independence. I realized that soon, probably sooner than I ever dreamed of, he will shrink away from my hugs and kisses and may be less inclined to be cuddled while around other kids. And it will be my role to understand that and foster his independence and encourage it. Part of me isn't very excited about this, let me tell you. My little baby is growing up.