Where is my baby?

What a week. This weekend we headed to Atlanta to celebrate our friends' wedding. We left Preston overnight for two nights. It was the first time ever we were both away from him overnight. He stayed with his Mimi and Mook. He went right out of my arms and had a fun weekend like we were never even separated.

When I first had Preston, I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of insecurity. He needed me (and his daddy) for everything. He couldn't hold up his head, he couldn't eat without us, he only drank milk, he cried and cried and our attempts to soothe him were countless. How could I possibly give him everything he needed? I remember wishing for him to grow bigger, to gain independence, to just grow past this newborn phase so that he would be more comfortable. Preston is such an active baby, I felt like we would all be happier when he could DO more.

Here I am, eating my words.

As of this weekend, Preston is crawling. Yes, he decided to crawl for the first time while we were in Atlanta. He got up in the crawling position and took a few crawls forward, lunging his body trying to go as far as he could. His eyebrows go up, and he gets this determined look on his face. From the moment he first crawled, it became an obsession with him. It is ALL he wants to do. He is a boy on a mission. When he moves, you can see such a sense of pride on his face. Of course, when he crawled the best we couldn't get it on video, but you get the idea.



In addition to the new found freedom of crawling, he is eating his food in a highchair. He looks so big in the highchair. Sitting proudly, easily opening his mouth and eating whatever we put in front of him. It doesn't matter - fruits or veggies - he loves it all. Then last night, I decided I would just hand him a sippy cup with some water in it to see what he would do. He immediately grabbed it, held it perfectly, lifted it up to his mouth and took several sips of water, in between the green peas he was taking down. I was in awe.

I looked at my baby this morning as Brian and I were getting ready for work. He was wearing a navy blue Polo shirt and khaki shorts, crawling across our bed. He just looked SO big. I know I will have more moments like these - when I look at him and can't believe how big my baby is. I was talking to Brian about this a little last night while I was rocking Preston before bed. I told him that no matter how big he gets, I want to always remember how small he once was, how dependent he was on us, and how special this time in our life was.

When he was a newborn, I used to think "How do people forget this?" Everyone says you do. Now, I am beginning to forget what it was like to have a tiny baby, nursing round the clock, that feeling of insecurity. Our boy is growing up before our very eyes. And it is so bittersweet. His belly laugh just melts my heart.



In other news, our first weekend away from him was actually kind of nice. People kept asking me if it was hard, and it really wasn't. I knew he was in good hands, and Brian and I needed some quality time together. We stayed in a nice hotel in the Buckhead area, spent time together and spent time with his college friends. But, when I woke up Sunday morning, my heart hurt. I really needed to see him again. I am pretty sure I could not have made it three nights. I was relieved to make it back safely to this big boy who looked fatter, longer, and more grown up. We really love him so much and Brian and I were all over him when we saw him again :)