Independence

I walked into the church nursery this morning with Coranelle, as I have done many many times in the last 11 moths. I am the annoying mom who doesn't hand her baby over the gate, but insists on coming in and getting her child settled before sneaking out. I wouldn't be that way, except that for the last gzillion times that I have tried handing her over, she instantly screams and cries. So, I try to sit her down and get her playing so that she is distracted when we leave. Typically, she simply sees the room and freaks out and cries. Even if I sit there with her, she'll fuss and cry and crawl into my lap and hold onto my shirt, somehow pleading with me not to leave her there. Today was different. I walked in with her and she remained calm. We entered the gate together and I put her down. She looked up and me, and crawled away to find a toy. I was stunned. I didn't know what to do, so I looked at Ryan and one of the volunteers who knows Coranelle's typical behavior, and just shrugged and walked out. It felt strange. Wonderful, but so different. This past week, she seems to have gained a new sense of confidence and independence. Grandparents take her and she smiles, her uncle holds her and she doesn't even seem to notice. Last night, she was crawling all over Vann without a single regard to where I was. So, I guess she's growing up. She's not really a baby anymore and that's hard to believe. At times, she'll have pulled up onto something and she'll let go to play with the toy in her hand and stay standing on her own. I hope walking follows soon! With all of her changes, my roles as her mom change and shift too and I am so excited about each new stage that we get to go through together!