A Big Boy

All of a sudden, things are starting to change with Rhett. He's understanding a lot more of what we say and do. He'll bring us things if we ask for them by name. When we put on his shoes, he walks over the door and starts to turn the handle. He's starting answering our questions with "yeah!" or (more often) "NO!". In the last month or so, our little baby has really started to grow into a big toddler! It's kind of an unbelievable thing to watch. He's such a happy, inquisitive little guy. He loves to walk around the house, pointing at objects until we name them for him. Then he moves on to something else. And the walking! After months of trying to convince myself that I shouldn't worry, Rhett is finally walking full time. 

The sad thing is, all he wants to do is walk away from us. In fact, his first steps were to walk away from me instead of towards me. He likes to explore and walk all on his own. Sometimes it's sad. But mostly I cheer him on and he claps for himself right along with me. 

Right now Rhett has a scraped elbow, an egg on his forehead, a scratch on his cheek and a bruised chin. All reminders of the battlefield of new toddlerhood. He doesn't mind falling at all. He face planted directly onto the concrete sidewalk today and just hopped back up like it was nothing. I practically had a heart attack. I'm already foreseeing monthly trips to the emergency room in our future. He was such a careful baby but now that he's walking, he just doesn't care how much he hurts himself in the process--he WILL figure out how to get where he's going and nothing will stand in his way. 

We're really enjoying life with a big boy. It has it's challenges, but it is also so much fun.