"I can do it myself!"

That is exactly what we're dealing with right now.  It is super cute and super sad.  I enjoy doing everything for Ethan, and now he's interested in doing so much on his own.  His thing right now is feeding himself.  Quite literally, he would not eat anything last night unless he had a spoon in each hand.  And, while we were giving him bites, he was steadily trying to do it himself at the same time.  So, we'd give him a bite and then he'd try to feed himself, over and over again.

He also likes to pick out his books every night.  If you try to pick one up to read to him, he fusses you.  So, we put it back down and let him grab the one he wants us to read.  Then, he wants to be the one to turn the pages. :)  His favorite book right now is "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?"  I think we could read that five times a night and he still would not get tired of it.

I absolutely love being a mommy.  There is nothing sweeter in this world.  And, to be honest, I do not expect non-parents to understand.  There have been those who've made comments in regards to their capacity to love not being determined by whether or not they have a child.  They are absolutely right.  There are areas of the heart that they will never understand until they have a child - it is just different.
To quote another mommy friend of mine..."I don't think it 'determine's' how much you can love. The love for a child is just different. To love something that you carried and grew inside you for 9 months is different than any kind of feeling imagine able until you have been there. Loving something that is part of you, literally, is a different kind if love."
I put this out there because I remember the person I was before Ethan.  Part of me could see how a mom's life could be happily consumed with their child, and the other part of me wondered how they couldn't resent losing their freedom and "themselves" a little.  Now, I understand.  There is not much more of an explanation for it.