"What happened to my baby?"

Every time Champ does something new like rolling over, sitting up, eating baby food, clapping, talking, etc. Atley always says "Mommy, say What happened to my baby?" I guess she had heard me say that a few too many times when I couldn't believe how my "baby" was growing up! She was busy last week telling me to say that about Champ since he had a week full of growing up.
He is a laid back child and does things in his own time...like growing, crawling, talking, demanding big food (he is SILL eating mostly all pureed greens b/c why wouldn't I want to keep feeding that to my child). But last week it all changed. I knew it would someday and had been preparing myself for this. I would have to say it was a little easier to see my "baby" begin crawling and moving and mobile and not entirely dependent on me anymore (shedding a tear)...
My mom came in town last Monday and I told her she would probably get to see Champ start to crawl, and I was right. It all happened on Wednesday, yes all in one day.
Because we knew this was about to happen, we went and bought a baby gate - can't have a baby falling down the stairs. We also exchanged another toy we had and got him a walker (I LOVE the walker! Wish I would have had one with the other kids.) He also got a new highchair that hooks onto the table, just like Canon's, so all the kids can sit together now and pretty soon it will be goodbye big clunky highchair!
When we got home all the kids took a nap and my mom and I began installing things. I also took up our big area rug in the living room and cleaned the floors. I pushed the ottomon back so he would have a big open area to roam around in. Once he woke up he spent a little time in his walker (he can only go backwards since his legs aren't quite long enough yet), and then right when I put him down on the floor he started crawling! He loved the open space and just began moving all over. It was so fun to see :)
We had purchased his "big boy" carseat about a month ago and I decided all of the sudden to put it together. Of course he loves it and I think it is actually so much safer and more padded than his baby one.
Even in the little things Champ just seemed bigger in one day. He started grabbing things during diaper changes, sucking on his toes, rolling away from me and wiggling around. He picks up his sippy cup and chugs down his "special" drink I make for the kids. He is following in his brother's footsteps and becoming a hitter - hitting me all the time with his sweet baby hands.
All in all it was a big day for him, and for me.
"What happened to my baby?!" He will be 1 in a few weeks!