An ordinary Saturday at the park

It's the ordinary moments like this that I want to remember.  Just a run-of-the-mill Saturday morning visit to the local park, a coffee and a push on the swings.  A game of hide-and-seek and some balancing on the assault course.  Sunlight dappling through the silver birches and a barely perceptible nip in the air, reminding us that the beginning of autumn is close.  Our little family of three.

The First Boy seems to be changing so much at the moment.  Over the summer his face has lost some of its chubbiness and has begun to take on the look of a proper little boy.  I can see flashes of the seven year old and the ten year old he's going to be some day.  And while this pace of change is exciting, it's also sad, as I know that we really are leaving behind his toddlerhood.

Not only the way he looks, but his sense of humour has really developed recently.  He will often shoot us a cheeky grin with a real glint in his eye and say 'Only joking!'  Over the summer he has become much more co-ordinated and daring, hesitating less and less with climbing and jumping, and insisting that 'I do it on my own, Mummy!'  He is so proud when he achieves something on his own that he previously needed our help with, like dressing himself or pulling the lid off a yogurt.

Independence is increasing quickly; I try to identify the right times to hold back and let him try something on his own, and when to step in and help. I don't always get it right, but we are teaching each other along the way.