Little steps for him, big steps for us

Sam Holtman

Sunday night as I held my sleeping baby, I thought, “his face looks different than it did last night.”

Maybe it was because he really took off with his walker for the first time that day.

Maybe it was because he now stretches out over the arm of the recliner instead of fitting in one arm like the first time we sat down in what has become “our spot.”

Maybe it was because we started wearing new jammies a size bigger than the night before.

Maybe it was the fact that his sixth tooth popped through this weekend.

Whichever “maybe” it was that caused it, there was no denying that his face had a different shape to it that night.

My baby is becoming a toddler.

He will be 11 months old this Sunday.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I know this is the whole point of raising these babies, to help them grow up into good people. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a little bittersweet.

He is becoming more independent.

Oftentimes I will wonder where he is, walk into his bedroom, and see him “reading” all of the board books he pulled off of his bookshelves.

I imagine him thinking, “well, all these big people are doing is looking turning pages and talking. I can do that, too!”

He is exploring and doing a lot of sensory learning.

He’s starting to mimic us – his fake cough is getting pretty good.

His favorite place in the entire house is in the bathroom, right between the toilet and trash can, next to the cord of my straightener. Of course, he chooses the one place I would like for him not to be.

We’ve started to decide which battles are worth fighting, and when is the time to let him explore and learn.

But as we have started saying, “No, Sam,” a lot more often – in fact, I’m starting to wonder if he thinks his name is NoSam – I see that we are already starting to shape the kind of person he is.

What we discipline him for, what we let him get away with, how we prioritize our time, what actions of ours he chooses to mimic … all of these things, how we parent in these teachable moments, are shaping his character.

No pressure, right?

I’m sure we’ll have some – more – parenting fails. After all, the first kid really is the Guinea pig for the rest of his siblings, right?

But what I hope we can be conscientious of as he grows, is how we are shaping his character.

We want our sweet babies to grow into polite, loving kids.

Then into respectful, responsible teenagers.

And then into productive, encouraging adults.

And all along the way, we want them to enjoy life and prioritize people over material things and money.

But most of all, if we teach our children nothing else, we want to teach them how to have a relationship with God.

And as he starts to mimic us in the simplest of gestures, I see that it starts with us.

While it will only take a couple months for us to teach him to actually walk, we will spend the rest of our lives showing him how to walk with Jesus.

Kaity Holtman is the Agriculture Editor for the Maryville Daily Forum.