Big Steps

Milo, as well as Mommy and Daddy, have taken some big steps lately (both literally and figuratively). I can't say that Milo is really walking yet but he is getting very close. Just this weekend he started taking two to three steps unaided from thing to thing as long as those things are not too far away from each other. Of course, in addition to this he is a little speed demon in both the crawling and cruising departments. He has also learned how to walk while just holding one of our hands. Who knew that this took such skill? He would rather practice walking while holding both our hands though so he is not a big fan of the single hand mode of travel. He will generally plonk his bottom down pretty quickly but if you catch him at the right time he will walk beside you for a good while.

Milo is also eating more and more "people" food which is kind of fun for us. This weekend alone he had rice, refried beans, guacamole, spaghetti, french fries and some grilled cheese. I totally see the challenge in feeding your little ones vegetables once they start eating real food. In general, most fruits and vegetables are not baby friendly unless you go back to the baby food. Maybe I should just make a point to carry some extra baby food veggies with us when we go out so that I can feed him that in addition to the other stuff.

Now for Mommy and Daddy's big step... Milo is officially 11 months 1 week old and we have never left him with anyone other than family or a close friend. Mark's aunt, Lanita (aka NiNi), watches him during the day and, until now, we would simply change our plans if we could not find someone we know to watch him. This has never been a burden for us because, honestly, since we are separated from him during the day we love every minute of seeing him at night and on the weekends. However, as he approaches his 1 year birthday we are beginning to realize that he needs to learn how to interact with other kids. So, we decided that we need to take "baby steps" toward socializing our little man.

Yesterday, Mark and I went to the gym and put Milo in childcare for the first time. It started off fairly well. The lady at the desk was holding a crying little boy who was about 2 (and who was almost the same size as Milo. Crazy!). Little Boy kept looking at Milo and as soon as I put Milo down he waddled over to give Milo a kiss. Milo was receptive until Little Boy pulled his hair... and kept giving him more kisses. (Oh, did I mention that Little Boy's nose was running like a fountain? Lovely.) I sneaked out of the room with Milo's "not sure what is going on I think I might cry" face haunting me. Mark got there about 15 minutes after I did and peaked into the room. He said Milo was standing there by himself looking around with a freaked out look on his face. Apparently Milo kept looking at the door like he was waiting for one of us to come rescue him - which is probably exactly what he was doing.

By the time I went to pick him up after about 45 minutes Milo was the crying little boy being held by the lady at the desk. He stopped crying once I got him in my arms but then started again when a new little girl was handed over and she became the crying baby being held by the lady at the desk. I think it was probably just sensory overload. He is used to being at either our house or Lanita's house and, though he has had a few visits with his cousins, Lanita, Mark and I are his playmates - 45 minutes in the midst of several (screaming, running, playing) kids of various ages was probably a lifetime in his little mind.

At least we started the process. We will keep going to the gym childcare every once in awhile and will eventually build up to at least a couple of days at day care each week. We want him to feel secure but also to be able to interact with his peers. I know we need to do this even if it makes me worry about him out in the world without our protection. And so it begins...