Growing Up

Austin has been doing some major growing up lately. In the last couple weeks he has begun to play more independently than he ever has. He will play in our spare room listening to "songs" for an hour or more. He doesn't run right to me in the morning, but just runs right to the stereo or some other toy to start his day.
To my delight he has started talking about intangibles, saying such things as "nice day!", "ready to go to the gym" (even though he's scared), and "miss daddy" (or mommy) when one of us isn't home.
Although he's reluctant, I have had recent success with getting him to go pee in the toilet, not just his little potty. I also got him to try on Pull-Ups instead of diapers. The kid LOVES his diapers, always has, the wetter the better.
And probably the biggest moment for us recently was last week when I dropped him off at the gym daycare and he actually played and was even smiling a bit when I picked him up. This is HUGE for us, mostly for me. For THREE YEARS I have sacrificed my gym time because my kid is incredibly terrified of being without us. It took about 10 times at the gym, each time is unpleasant because he screams & cries the entire time and I cannot relax enough to have a good workout. This particular morning I told him we were going to the gym and he flipped out and hid in our bedroom. He would crack the door open, see me, and scream "NO GYM!" It was not looking good, but I was taking him anyway. Gotta do it. I decided to take him to the library first and he calmed down there and picked out some books. Driving from there to the gym I could not believe my ears when he said "ready to go to the gym." When we got there he remained calm, just a few nervous whines. The lady there remembered him (who could forget?) and she got him a chair and put it by the door. She said that this helped last time. She brought him some books and he sat in the little chair by the door reading. He would get up and explore the place when the mood struck him and always returned to his safe spot, the chair, when he felt he needed to. Thank goodness for this lady helping my kid to feel safe, and allowing me a little peace of mind at the gym for once. When we left the gym that day, I felt on top of the world. Although I get sad that my baby is growing up, moments like this fill me with joy.