William the master librarian

We've had a couple of big milestones happening here lately.

One you're already aware of, which is Andrew walking. Just in the last two weeks, he's really taken to it. He can walk across an entire room now, and he can even walk and drink out of a sippy cup at the same time. He's very very proud of himself, too.

Of course, whenever I want to record him walking or show him off to someone else, that's when he plunks down on the floor. Or clings to my legs and buries his head in my knees. I can see people thinking, "Aww, she thinks he can walk. That's so sweet."

He CAN, people. He really can!

But the other big milestone is something that is near and dear to my book-lovin' heart. William got his very first library card yesterday.

Or, as he puts it, "I'm the newest member of the Nashville Public Library!"

He's been interested in getting his own library card ever since we ran into his friend Zoe at the library, and she was wearing her library card on a lanyard around her neck. So yesterday, when I was picking up a few books I had on reserve, he asked about getting his own card.

I gravely told him about what a big responsibility it is to have a library card. I noted that he'd have to remember to bring the books back before the due date, and he couldn't lose them either, or he'd have to get money out of his piggy bank to pay for them.

William looked a little concerned. He said, "I don't know...Maybe I'm not ready..." and the librarian, who was typing up our application, said, "I've almost finished it, honey." And she snapped the new card onto a lanyard and presented it to him. He put it on and grinned. A big happy grown-up grin.

"I'm a master librarian* now!" he said with great relish.

He checked out five books with his new card, since he already knew how to do it. (I always let him use my card to check books out with the barcode scanner.)

Somewhere on my iPhone, I have a photo of him holding up his shiny new library card, which is hanging from his very own orange lanyard, and a copy of one of the newest Magic Treehouse books. He looks a little, er, interesting, because his teacher had painted his face to look like Spider-Man at daycamp, but about half the paint had rubbed off. But even with the vestiges of facepaint, you can still see how excited he was to have his own library card.

(*Refers to Jack and Annie, the main characters in the Magic Treehouse series of books.)