No Support Needed

Today was a perfect fall day, it was absolutely breathtaking.  So it came as no surprise to me that, the moment I suggested playing outside, I could hardly detain the kids long enough to get their shoes on.  While we were getting ready we watched a chipmunk taunting our Lucy dog on the back porch.  So, naturally, our first item on the agenda once outside was to look for the chipmunk.  Once that got old, as it turns out chipmunks don't hang out waiting for little kids to catch them, we headed over to Christian's swing.

Christian loves to swing and I usually can't get him out of it once he is in.  Tessie and I both pushed him and he laughed happily the whole time.  After a while he said he wanted to go to Tessie's castle.  The castle is the toddler playstructure we have in the back yard, and Christian loves to go down the slide, stand inside to turn the captain's wheel, and play in the sandbox beside the castle.  The problem is that all of these activities require me holding him up, usually while standing in a very awkward position.  He usually slumps over while trying to use his hands, and I spend tons of effort trying to keep him upright.  And so playtime in the castle ends when I am tired, not when he is ready to leave.  As you can imagine, he doesn't react to that well.  Today, however, we rounded a new corner. 

Christian played in the castle with very little suport from me.  He sat on the slide and slid down alone, while I waited at the bottom to catch him.  He sat inside the castle with his sister, not even getting upset when he fell over into the dirt.  I did have to support him while he stood on top, turning the wheel.  But I was barely holding him.  The greatest moment of all came at the sandbox.  Our sandbox is really a sand table, and Christian usually leans against it awkwardly, while I hold him up.  Today he stood straight and tall, holding on with one hand, while driving a car in the sand with the other.  Within a few moments I realized that he didn't need my support at all.  I let go and backed away.  For the first time ever, I watched my son standing alone.

We had a wonderful rest of the afternoon.  We went exploring, laid in a field, played fetch with Lucy, and talked to the birds.  The kids played hard and we all had a great time.  But it was all completely overshadowed by Christian standing at the sandbox.  Nothing could compare with that, not in a million years.  It was simply beautiful, and I will never forget it.