Since he turned three in early July, I've noticed such a physical change in the First Boy. Not only has he shot up in height and his chubby baby face is morphing into the face of a child rather than a toddler, but his physical confidence has sky rocketed.
Although he has always, from babyhood, loved visits to the various parks around where we live (and we're lucky that there are some lovely ones), it's only in the past few months that we've seen him blossom in these environments.
Enclosed, 'tube' slides used to be greeted with a firm 'no', 'big boy swings' didn't get a second glance, and the presence of boisterous children on climbing frames was enough to send him scuttling back to us. He cautiously explored and had fun but never threw himself into it.
The change in him recently is amazing. On holiday this summer, out of the blue one day, he decided to confront his nemesis, an enclosed slide, and now they pose no worry for him.
He's now happy to forgo the baby swings for the big boy ones, or even better, the tyre swings; he hauls himself up climbing walls with confidence and strength; he loves dangling from monkey bars, and even those high wavy slides that require sacks see no hesitation.
He still needs us around for a bit of a shove up and some encouragement but most of the time he's happy to tackle the challenges of any playground without hesitation.
As I watched him on the zip wire last weekend (a piece of playground equipment that has always been associated in my mind with 'big kids') I was struck yet again by how fast our little boy is changing and becoming more independent. His delighted face as he swung through the air was a joy to see.
G is designing a climbing frame for our garden. If the Second Boy is anything like our First, it's going to be well used!
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