New Milestone

Well, Alex is 18 months old now. This, of course, means that he runs everywhere and I hear NO from him all the time. But mainly it means that it's TIME FOR NURSERY! That's right. Alex went to nursery for the first time last week. He was a little clingy at first, but I think that it's because he doesn't like crowds and our nursery room is pretty small. And the other kids who screamed and cried really bothered him, too. But he was so good about it. He picked up a toy truck and gave it to a little boy who was crying in an effort to help him calm down. It was so sweet! I only had to stay with him for about 5 minutes. Once he realized just how many toy trucks there were, Mommy was all but forgotten.

For the first time in over a year I was able to sit quietly during Sunday School and Relief Society without Alex crawling all over me, demanding juice or a treat, and trying to run his toy car up one of the sister's legs, and attempting to crawl under the chair, and crying out in protest when his quest was thwarted, and then trying to get into everyone's scripture bags, and playing peek-a-boo in the curtains, and throwing a tantrum in the aisle...("Jeffrey, Jeffrey! Come here, Jeffrey! Look what you did to the man's suit, Jeffrey!")...it was so nice to sit calmly and quietly!

When I went in to pick him up, he was sitting quietly at the little table scribbling on a piece of paper with two crayons in one hand (we've been practicing our scribbling skills in preparation for nursery). He looked like a little boy rather than a baby and I just couldn't believe what a big boy he had become. The nursery leader told me that Alex was "a perfect angel" and hadn't made a peep the whole time. Music to every mother's ears! Hopefully, our subsequent nursery adventures will be as wonderful. For now, I'm still basking in the glow of our first time success.