Becoming

It's truly amazing to watch someone learning, growing and changing...right before your eyes. Bella has become Bella. She has likes and dislikes. Opinions. Preferences. Strong preferences in fact. I knew that we had entered a new stage when she wanted to wear her full body fleece bunting for an entire day without taking it off. I did somehow persuade her to let me change her diaper. But for the most part, she wore it while she ate, slept, and played. Tonight, it was her boots. She brought her boots to Matt and wanted to put them on...and being the great dad that he is, he obliged. When it was time for bed, she desperately wanted to keep them on. My first instinct was to say "No, it's time for bed...let's take them off". But it was clear to me that I would have caused a riot if I said that. So I let her wear them. We laid in bed with the boots. We cuddled with the boots. We rocked with the boots. Right before she fell asleep, she looked at me and said "Boot...OFF!". My sweet baby knows what she wants. And I am glad I let her handle in in her own way...in her own time.