Last day of school

Well, last day of preschool. I have been taking Caden twice a week to a 2 1/2 hour class for 2 year olds. It is a new program at a local church and they had never had a child with special needs other than a peanut allergy. But they welcomed Caden with open arms, no hesitation and it was one of the best decisions I have made for him. He started there barely eating solid foods, not walking, and having little experience being around other kids since he is an only child. Yesterday his class went to a park for a picnic to enjoy their last day together. I watched a much different boy running all over the playground, chowing on a plateful of fruit and pretzels at snacktime and having to decide whether he wanted to sit with his best friend Sammy or girlfriend Katie (THAT age-old dilemma already?).
Sammy won.

Sad to say goodbye to teacher Miss Gloria.

At one point as I talked to Katie's mom, Caden walked up a little flight of stairs to some slides. The first time he has ever walked up stairs unassisted and he didn't miss a beat. As I stopped breathing and begged myself not to scream in front of everyone, my little man turned around and WALKED BACK DOWN! As if he's been doing it all his life. Finally I remembered that I did in fact have feet to move my body towards my son. I tried to scoop him up into safety but Caden had already turned around to go back up the steps with barely a glance over his shoulder at me. Someone behind me said "He's growing up, mom." Indeed he is.