Spring fever brings a stinky little boy

I have spring fever, no doubt about it! With winter never really showing up and giving me my fill of snow, we kind of hit springtime early in the Pind house. All of our windows are open; the heat has been off since the beginning of March, and the trees and flowers are in bloom.

Last spring Cooper was just beginning to be his own little person, rolling around like a little rollie pollie, seeing, feeling and tasting everything for the first time. Now he is running or sprinting across the yard and getting into everything. It is only the first week of April and we have already been to the park too many times to count, we play outside almost every night after work, and he spends almost all day outside with Grandma.

It really wasn't until this spring that I realized my baby is no longer a baby, but a toddler. He isn't sweet-smelling anymore, and he isn't cuddly and smiley. He is a stinky, rambunctious, attitude-ridden toddler! I think the terrible twos have already begun!

He comes home every night sweaty and with dirt under his fingernails. He is too busy to kiss and love on Mommy anymore, and would prefer to wrestle with Daddy or the dogs. He doesn't smile and pose for pictures like he used to. Instead, he runs around like a crazy person and gives me a goofy face like his Papa does.

I was certain that this stage didn't happen until little boys were at least 4, but here he is, stinky and with adrenaline pumping like a little man, not my sweet baby.

Now, don't get me wrong -- he is still sweet (when he wants to be) and he smells wonderful (after a bath), but it's those in-between times that are going to make me mad! I am already having to adjust to being second to Papa, dirt, bugs, dogs and, of course, Daddy. Max says it's only fair. I was No. 1 for the first year and he should be No. 1 for the second. I am just having a hard time letting go of my baby.

I heard that when stinky little boys turn into sullen teenagers and then young men, that they start to want their mommy back. Being that Cooper is only 18 months old, I am not sure I can wait that long! I guess I'll have to make do with those tiny moments in-between.

Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that by age 25, she'd be married with a baby and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a first-time mom -- one who's still a girl trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.