No I didn’t change my entire parenting philosophy, but the baby sure did. Or maybe all this attaching I’ve been doing has made him the world’s most independent 8 month old. Which I think is the point of attachment parenting, so…yah?

First there was the church nursery adventure, where despite my own hang ups Baby Evan didn’t show the least bit of apprehension at being abandoned left in the care of someone else while I actually listened to and enjoyed the service for the first time ever.

At Stroller Strides on Monday I volunteered to hold (and by “volunteered” I mean “grabbed out of his stroller without permission because OMG TINEEEEEEE BEBEEEEEEEEH”) a friend’s newborn for a few minutes. Instead of being jealous or upset, Baby Evan sat in his stroller and chewed on his shoes. You’d think seeing another baby that close to his boobs mama would have made him mad but he was totally nonchalant about it, like “Whatevs, woman, I’m too busy being cute to notice your shenanigans.”

Then at nursing group Baby Evan ran away. Ok, crawled away. But at a very high rate of speed. He then spent the entire hour climbing on other moms and/or babies. At one point he threw himself into our group leader Holly’s lap and leaned back to gaze adoringly at her while she talked about breast pumps. When he was done getting attention from Holly, he tried to crush hug Baby T and attempted to lick kiss Baby El (although she was also guilty of some licking). I could have easily left the room, or the building, or probably the state and he wouldn’t have given a damn until he was done playing and ready for lunch.

It’s kind of a relief to find that all my baby wearing and nursing and comforting and rocking to sleep has not spoiled my child to the point that I am his only source of security. Although I have to admit it makes me a little sad that our cuddly baby days are already over and we’ve moved on to not wanting to be seen with me. I thought I had about 12 more years before that happened.