See ya Mom.

Elijah and I have occasionally been going to our local mall to shop (Mom) and play in the play area (Eli). The times we've been there before Eli hasn't been very adventerous and pretty much stayed within 5-10 feet of me at all times. Today though I put him down and he crawled towards the big plastic toys, gradually getting farther and farther away. He'd look back to check where I was and see how I was reacting, and when I would just wave at him and smile, he'd clap his hands and squeal at me, and then scoot a little farther away. After about two minutes of this Elijah decided he was good on his own, and proceeded to crawl all around this huge play area, even when he wasn't near Mom.

At one point he was at least 50 feet away from me, on the other side of the play area completely. He didn't freak out or anything the whole time. He would occasionally check and see what I was doing and crawl back to me and get a quick hug, but then it was back to roaming. It was interesting to see Elijah get more adventerous and confident of being away from me the longer we were there. He was really enjoying himself. And he tuckered himself out and took a two hour nap at the mall afterwards - which I got to enjoy in a big comfy chair at the mall, with an iced coffee and my book while he snoozed. Ahh the joys of motherhood. :)