Today...

Today.

 

Today was monumental. Today, my baby started swim lessons, and while we have done lots of swim lessons before, today my baby started swim lessons all by himself. No mom, no dad. Just my boy.

 

So today, for kind of the first time ever, I handed him to a teacher and sat on the sidelines to watch. And I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

 

I watched as he sat on the steps, clearly the littlest one of six, but yet somehow, he looked so very big to me. I watched as he ever-so-patiently waited for his turn to blow bubbles and kick his way across the pool, to backfloat, to practice using his lean, lanky arms, and to jump (i.e. belly flop) into his teacher's arms. I watched as he decided one time to just go for it and fling himself fearlessly into the water. I wasn't even scared. I laughed even. And his teacher brought him safely back to that step. I watched as he attemped to start a splash party and when he very firmly told his teacher, "No. I'm not doing that." I watched him as he watched me, as if he knew I needed that little bit of reassurance that he still needed me there.

 

Today my baby became a boy. An almost 3-year-old boy who follow directions, and makes friends, and trusts his teachers, and sees his own little body as capable and mighty and strong.

 

In the locker room afterwards, I grabbed his little cheeks, smooched his little lips and said, "Baby, I am sooooooooooo proud of you!"

 

He said, "I did a great job! I jumped!"

 

"You did, my love! You did!," I said back.

 

Today I clearly saw my baby for the boy he most certainly is. Today I fully recognized that my boy is indeed capable and mighty and strong.

 

Today was monumental. One the best todays ever.