All it's cracked up to be.

Milestones are such wonderful parts of parenting...and such heart breakers too.

Delaney is starting to put her clothes on by herself. It's cute and precious beyond all get-out to see her putting her pants on by herself, repeating that age-old wisdom taught to her by daddy- that the tag goes by the butt (obviously for pants...it's counter productive to teach her to put her shirt on in such a way that the shirt tag goes by her butt. Jeez guys, give me a little credit.). Today she put her shirt on backwards, and she needed some help putting her pants on (forgot to unbutton the pants). Nailed the socks though. So it's a work in progress...but it's so special to behold.

And yet...there is this tiny bit of sadness, knowing that my daughter is now one step further from depending on me for everything, and one step closer towards independence. That she'll always be daddy's little girl...but not to the same degree. It's like when a college gives someone an honorary doctorate. You have that same designation...but it's not the same. Because you're not really a doctor. Daddy's little girl is going to be a beautiful young woman before I know it.

This past week we've let her go outside and play with her friends- without us being out there with her. She has to stay within visual of the window...but we've been giving her some freedom to go outside without us. This is scary stuff, for many reasons. The scariest part of all is that these are natural parts of life. This is the way that it's meant to be. I think children always need their parents on some level...but it's never going to be the same. Once you move on, you can't go back. It's growth- and being a parent is so hard, because you have to balance your own inclination towards shelter and protection with the reality that this little child needs to be able to spread their wings. Even if it means that they walk around like a fashion disaster.