My baby boy has gone from I-only-want-to-sleep-on-and-be-held-by-my-mama infant, to a I-will-scream-if-you-leave-the-room baby, to an I-can-stay-with-these-other-people … gulp … near toddler.
I got a glimpse of this new stage the last (and second) time that Chris and I went somewhere overnight. I got another glimpse of it this past weekend when we spent Thanksgiving in Illinois with my family. I’m fairly certain there were close to fifty people at my uncle’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, and the rest of the weekend was spent at my parents’ house where we had eight people, three dogs, two cats, and several visitors. Eli did SO well with everyone, a lot of the time I wasn’t sure what to do with myself besides stand there and watch and wonder where this independent happy-with-seemingly-anyone child came from… torn between happy that he was doing so well, and kind of sad that it didn’t feel like he needed me quite so much.
I told my brother about my torn feelings and, having majored in psychology, he asked some questions and then quickly reassured me that Eli’s behavior was a tell-tale sign of secure attachment to Chris and I. And so I smiled. And so the part of me that has been wondering these whole past 12 months whether I’m doing things right began to relax.
And then, when I went back upstairs Eli crawled over to me. I picked him up, and the sweetest mouth came wide-open to my face and covered me in teething, drool-y kisses.
And that was all the confirmation that I needed.
(I mostly feel like I never know what I am doing. But God’s got us… even this parenting part of us. He’s not letting me do it alone).
Linking up with Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky