with the magoo being a year and a half old (i cannot believe i just wrote that), i find him constantly bumping into things, running into things, and banging into things.

he’s climbing, jumping, stomping, throwing… but not always in the “right” direction, though well intended.

as a result he gets the occasional toddler injury. a scrape. a bump on the noggin. a bruise on the knee. a bee sting.

ouch.

burn.

tender.

my mother-in-law said something to me recently about jackson that has resonated with me. she has noticed this new independent streak in jackson now that he has hit 18 months.

she told me how she watches him on the playground and he no longer needs her to guide him, protect him, watch his every move with an anxious eye. she told me that jackson will go play and then come and check in with her… then go play again.

and i witnessed this yesterday while i watched the magoo climb up the ladder to a slide by himself with my mother-in-law’s words in the back of my mind.

jackson never once whined for me to come assist him. he just did it, as though he has been doing it all along. i didn’t have to remind him to sit on his bum before sliding down. and he didn’t ask me to “puch mom.”

when he got to the bottom of the slide and hit the ground 1/2 on his diapered rear and 1/2 on his side, he looked up at me with his big brown eyes awaiting my reaction. i looked down at him and said “what hun?” then the magoo laughed and laughed and laughed himself into a frenzy.

the palms of his hands were a little scraped from the gravel. and today there is a small peanut-sized bruise on the side of his right thigh where he hit the ground.

but he’s climbing the ladder again.

sliding down again.

bump.

thump.

giggle.

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