Independently

Our boy is sitting independently! Woot woot! As we spend most of our time as a family playing on the floor this new skill is quite the exciting game changer in our house. I love being able to interact with Ezra face to face without having to prop him up or constantly hold on to him. My arms are finally experiencing some well-deserved, sweet freedom! LIMB LIBERATION! It's the best. Some freshly freed arms, in addition to Ezra's ever-growing curiosity and other physical abilities, make playing with him even more fun than it was before!

With this new ability he is appearing more a little boy and less a little baby. Before having a child I thought I would be sad about my baby growing out of his baby-ness. I have heard many friends mourn the passing of the infant stage, wishing they could keep their children that way forever. I have now decided that these people are insane and should not be trusted.

Okay, maybe that's an overstatement, but there will be no mourning the early infant stage from this mama. I adore that Ezra is acquiring new skills. I love how much more I am able to have some kind of meaningful communication with him. I like that I can see real understanding behind his little eyes when I do or say certain things. Every day he seems more like a little person that I can connect with and less defined by his basic needs.

Obviously tiny babies need to be defined by their needs. They need to need, but I think anybody that says that the newborn/ early infant phase is a whole bunch of fun is well....they're lying. (or it could just be me)

It's a cliche and it's a cliche for a reason. When you have a tiny baby sometimes you kind of lose your mind, spending most of your days covered in bodily functions and laundry. Yep, that sounds about right. Of course I loved my little baby like crazy, but I don't think I would have called that time in our relationship fun or really all that interesting. He cried a lot (A LOT) and I tried my absolute best to crack the code. Walking? Bottle? Bouncing? Sleep? Diaper? Overstimulated? Understimulated? Hot? Cold?

It was difficult and it's okay that it was difficult. It's supposed to be difficult. A little baby's gotta be a little baby. But honestly, I'm thrilled that we're moving beyond it. Obviously he is still very much an infant and I love that, but I am very happy to be entering a new stage in his development.

The ability to communicate is just so key for me. I can clearly see joy, frustration, fear, excitement, etc... and I know that he is picking up (or maybe now he's just able to show it) on his environment. Basically, it's validating to feel like what you're doing is making a difference, which might sound self-important, but it's true. Parenting is hard work and it's nice to see that work actually well, "working". It's really nice to feel like you are able to communicate with someone with which you spend a majority of your time. All those skills help grow our relationship and his relationship with the world around him. It's a pretty darn cool thing to see. Not to mention he just looks so ridiculously cute sitting on his own! Ah, I can't take it....too cute....