Um....Excuse me, Miss?

Well, hello friends! 

How are we holding up? 

Getting restless? 

Yeah, me too.

I don't know how everyone's week has been so far, but I'd love to share mine with you. By the way, did you know it's only Wednesday? Cuckoo bananas. 

This week, my daughter decided that she is little Miss Independent. 

Last Friday, I was assisting her with baby-led weaning, handing her pre-loaded spoons and helping her take sips of water every so often. She was a little distracted during nursing sessions but that was nothing new. She likes looking around, taking in every speck of our house. Normally, I can just redirect her, make sure the TV isn't on, and we are good to go.

Then Sunday hit. *Cue dramatic music*

I woke up to the cutest little babbling you've ever heard. We did our morning routine and made our way into the kitchen for family breakfast. I set her up with her food and sat close, watching her while I ate, ready to scoop the food she dropped into her bib back onto the tray. 

She babbled and giggled while chomping on her food and I laughed, watching her eat and play with her food. I was having so much fun with her, I didn't think twice when she picked up her cup and drank from it. She drummed her hands on the now empty tray, politely letting me know that she was ready for seconds. 

"Whoops! I'm sorry baby girl. Did Mama forget to scoop your food out?"

Ya'll. The bib pocket that is normally filled with a glob of partially chewed food, was empty. Maybe a few crumbs but it was empty! 

"Oh my gosh! Did you eat all of your food?! Do you have a happy belly? Here, let's drink some water."

The cup was empty too. The cup was empty, yet there were no puddles on the tray or in the bib pocket, no wet spots on her onesie, nothing on the floor.

"Did you drink all of your water?!" 

She just looked at me and smiled with her new double-tooth smile. 

Sunday night, we did our bedtime routine and she went to sleep. A few hours later, I saw her moving on the baby monitor and waited for her to cry for me to come back. 

Can you guess what she did? 

She put herself back to sleep. Just rubbed her little eyes, rolled onto her side and went back to sleep.

Just last night, I was rocking and nursing her back to sleep. I was handing her loaded spoons at dinner and scooping food out of her bib. I was holding her cup and helping her. Now she's flying solo? Next thing I know, she is going to be trying to cook her own meals. 

This precious little girl was taking the tiniest steps towards self-sufficiency. And I am so beyond proud of her!

But who in the h-e-double hockey sticks allowed this to happen overnight?! Like, can we not for ten seconds? 

...........

You know, this motherhood thing has been crazy. 

One second you're counting the days until your child can do something - literally anything outside of breathing - without you. The days where you can go to the bathroom without having the baby in sight. The days where you don't have to touch the glob of chewed food hanging out in the bib pocket. Heck, even the days where you can have something that slightly resembles a conversation with your child. You wish for any of those days to come. The next day, you are crying during nap time because your child ate a meal and drank some water. 

Well, you know what. After eating a few (dozen) chocolates, I think I am going to hang on to the moments of giving her that glob of chewed food. I am going to remember that one day, hopefully several months from now, we will have our last nursing session and I will miss these days of redirecting her attention from the fan to my boob, hoping she won't bite. 

I am going to remember all of these things because one day, she won't need me to do them for her anymore. She will continue on the route to self-sufficiency, do incredible things, and need me less and differently. Those days will be beautiful. But they are in another season. For now, in this season, I get to help her, and I plan on soaking up every second.

Until next time 💙.