He's not a baby anymore.

No pics, just a story to share today.

The three of us were out in the yard this afternoon. Eric was cutting down trees (as all good Dad's do), I was weeding out a flower bed or two, and neither of us were sure anything would get done with a toddler underfoot. To our surprise, Alexander was completely happy to be on his own and wandered aimlessly around the yard, chattering to himself, pointing at trees, birds and airplanes, and was completely independent from Mom and Dad (shhh, he doesn't know that Mom was secretly watching) for over an HOUR! At one point, he wanted to water the plants so I turned on the hose and gave him a couple of buckets to play with, after remembering what a friend said about her son loving the hose. I would occasionally glance up to see how he was doing and he was busy chattering at the water, pouring it over himself, filling up the buckets, and pouring it all out again. A few times, he had to toddle over and pour water on the weeds I was pulling but for the most part, I was very thankful to whomever invented the hose. He was soon covered in mud but was completely content, being a boy in a mud puddle.

Just two weeks ago, our little man wouldn't have wandered far from either one of us out in the yard and today, he could have cared less where we were.

He's definitely not a baby anymore.
(sniff, sniff)