Where did my baby go?

I'm sitting on my couch, watching Pax playing with a block in one hand, his truck in the other, and a grin on his face as he tries to figure out the buttons on the TV. All of a sudden it hits me- he's not my baby anymore. My sweet, fun, determined and ever-curious toddler, yes- but no longer the little baby I held and nursed and worked so hard to make laugh and smile those first months. I look at him in his overalls and curls, and see glimpses of the boy he will become sooner than I'd like. He has been testing us for months, seeing just how far he can push mom and dad before we'll react, figuring out the boundries of his world and telling us very decisively in his dozen words or so exactly what it is he wants. It makes me smile, because I love this little toddler-baby, but it also makes me want to put things in slow motion for a bit. This past year has flown by-sometimes I can't believe he's already a year old- and so much of it was spent trying to figure this new little creature out that days melted into weeks, months...I don't want that to happen to years, too. I want to savor this time (yes, even the days when he screeches repeatedly for the computer (off limits), or tests us over and over and over again just to see what happens!) I want to remember what he was like during these toddler days so that when he has his own children, I can tell him; something I know my husband would love to know more of (either my mother-in-law was so busy she forgot a lot or he was so mischievous she blocked a lot of it out-definitely a possibility!). So this blog is a memorial to myself: slow down. Savor these days. And be thankful that he won't give up the bottle yet-put him in snuggly jammies, give him some milk, and enjoy having your baby back for just a few moments....before he crawls off the couch, stands up, and tries to get his daddy to chase him around the house.