watch and learn

I dont have a photo of what happened today but I know it is something I will always remember. I will look back on today's accomplishment and be so proud. Today, Blake had two major accomplishments.

1. At swim lessons today he put himself under water for the first time completely on his own, not just once but three times.

2. He finally went down the tube slides at McDonald's.

Now, let me explain.

My Blake is an observer. He is a cautious child who leads with his heart and his words but not always with his actions. He is the first one to describe something or learn something, and often times the last one to just jump in and do.

The truth is, it took me a LONG time to learn this about Blake. Being completely honest, I was worried and frustrated by this many times when Blake was really young. When I was pregnant with Blake I was so excited about being a mommy to a boy. The word Boy to me meant crazy, fearless, fast, loud, and other terms that expressed a sense of chaos. I was excited to have a son and I was excited to watch that fearlessness and freedom.

I remember even from very young, Blake was scared to do things that to me seemed easy. It took him a LONG time to go down even a small slide on his own but shortly after learning it, he mastered it and went over and over.

Throughout the very short and sweet 3 years of Blake's life so far, he has continued to show me the way he learns. Isn't it funny that in showing me this, he has taught me SO much!

Today as I watched in my chair from the sidelines and swim lessons as he decided he wanted to put himself under I waited for him to stop himself. He never did! He went completely under by himself because HE WAS READY! If there was one thing I could tell myself three years ago, or any new mom now it's dont focus on the timeline, focus on the can's not the cant's! Blake was in now way slower or less skilled than other kids, rather he had different strong suits - traits that make him who he is and someone he should be so proud of!

I remember Andrea telling me back when the boys were babies "they will not be 12 and not know how to crawl". It is so true and I wish I really took those words to heart back then.

Seeing Blake go under today on his own without me asking him to and knowing that it is something he has been very afraid of from day one was an amazing experience that even makes me teary to think about. However, getting in the car and telling him I was proud of him and hearing him reply "yeah, I am proud of myself too" was a feeling I cant even explain the depth of.

Fast forward to lunch, I took the kids to McDonald's so Blake could romp around while the car got some work done. We dont go all that often, but we have been before and Blake loves the tunnels! He loves going in...and back down. He has looked at the slides before and never wanted to go down them. He would tell me it was scary and he wanted to just go back down the stairs.

Today, I was on the phone and Blake was climbing up the stairs when all of the sudden, I looked down and saw Blake climbing out of the bottom of the slide! And, not just any slide, a tube slide that was VERY steep! I couldn't believe it! In fact, it actually took me a minute to realize what he had done! And, in typical Blake fashion once he did it, he mastered it not once but more times than I could count!

My son, even at 3, he has learned to conquer a fear (no matter how small) through perseverance and practice. It might not seem like a lot, but to me, his biggest cheerleader, who has watched and waited for him to conquer it, all the while knowing he could - it was an amazing thing to watch and I am SO lucky I got to be there and see it happen!