a giraffe in the room....geoffrey giraffe

i took landon out shopping with me today to get some things for his birthday this month. we got to toys r us and as we were walking through the aisles, i realized how strange it was that i was taking him shopping to get his presents. presents are great because of the element of surprise....its disguised with wrapping paper and the thoughts of your lists or going through your head. this little guy was watching me pick things out and but he'll still be surprised because kids that young don't have their long term memory fine tuned yet. he even got out of the cart and walked down the aisle, browsing and skipping over toys i would've thought he'd like to play with. his eyes lit up and he got his squeaky toy-sounding laugh going over an activity table that was extremely over priced. as i watched him, in his half standing-half squating stance, i realized that he wasn't my little baby anymore.
i knew i was going to be sad when he turned one and the quote, unquote, infant phase was over. i was picking out clothes and had to start looking in the bigger kid section. it felt like the days of layette sets and soft plush toys was so long ago, when the opposite is true. it's hard to remember those first few days of his life...how tiny and fragile he was. now, he was walking around the store, flirting with all the girls, and shaking his head no when presented with a toy he wasn't crazy about. he'd lose his balance and plop down on his padded behind but get right back up again. he's my little man now.
at the end of the day, we came home and unloaded all the bags. i put all his birthday stuff in the downstairs office, and put away all the stuff he was going to be using now and for our upcoming trip to pennslyvania. still a little sad that his closet was full of 12 month clothes, he came up to me with his binky and his favorite blue blankie and put his arms up for me to hold him. we sat down and he laid his head on my chest. he drifted off to sleep and i wasn't sad anymore. he may not be a newborn, but he is still my baby, reagardless of what size clothes he has and what toys we get for him.