Toddler Land

My question of the day is, “Where did this baby go?”
Yesterday was Henry’s first official day in the Toddler room at daycare. He’s not walking yet, but everyone felt it was time for him to move (including us), as he was getting quite bored and cranky in the baby room. Dave and I have been pushing for this move for a while, but I didn’t realize how significant it would be when it actually happened. He'll play on the playground everyday now at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., (there are FIVE-YEAR-OLDS on the playground – how is it possible that Henry is out there with them?), he’s going to learn to eat at a little table with his friends, he has art-time in the morning, and is going to sleep on a mat instead of in his daycare crib. I mean, really. No one told me that he was actually going to grow up and become a CHILD. :) They should really put that in the manual somewhere. It breaks my heart in the best possible way to watch it.
Henry is also moving full steam ahead with the two T’s. Talking and Tantrums. He says – doggy, kitty, night-night, daddy, mommy (none of that ma-ma, da-da stuff anymore – that’s for babies apparently), nanna and baby. And he can turn a light on when you ask him, hand you a red ring when you ask for it (in a sea of rings of other colors), and wave bye-bye. Fabulous indeed. But evidently this new-found learning comes with a strong sense of independence. Independence in the form of a completely stiff body and a yell that can scare the neighborhood dogs. Most of the time, we love it. Because we want him to be independent and he’s actually kind of funny about WHAT he gets crazy about (like us touching his spoon when he’s eating). But there are other times when, really, we’d both just like a beer.