by Jamie Reed posted in Parenting

This morning I woke up to baby giggles. Not dream whimpers, not cries of discomfort, not even yells of hunger. Just sweet baby giggles and chatter. My 5-month-old was awake and was entertaining himself until I woke up. As precious as it was, I couldn't help but feel a tiny twinge of sadness at the sight of my happy baby boy. He looked so big.

What was once a little baby (as little as an almost 9-pound baby can be), is now growing into a kid, and it?s so strange to see these changes take place. I?m certainly not complaining about my wake-up call, but it?s all a little hard to take sometimes.
There have been the milestones we were expecting, like sleeping through the night and rolling over for the first time, but there have been so many others, little skills and actions, otherwise insignificant moments that have surprised me and reminded me that my baby is growing up.
It?s in the way his tiny hands now reach up to hold his bottle. Those little hands that love to grasp my fingers and play with my hair, now are figuring out how to feed him and attend to his own needs.
The way he now pushes his legs to stand up. He grunts and groans until he?s up in the air and then grins so proudly. It?s adorable and wonderful and terrible all at once, this independence he?s longing for.
When he loses his pacifier but quickly finds it again, all on his own.
When he cries in the night but comforts himself before I can even reach for him, putting himself back...