Good-bye, baby. Hello, toddler.

Parenting books and social media accounts provide advice and suggestions on how to help one's baby reach developmental physical and mental milestones on time.

Provide ample amount of tummy time to reduce torticollis and to help strengthen muscles needed to roll and to crawl.

Point things out to the baby and mention what they are to help the baby develop his/her vocabulary.

Let the baby play with wooden toys to enhance creativity and imagination in open play.

It is a great joy to see a child tick off each developmental milestone, whether parents follow the advice of baby experts or if they decide to let the baby develop those skills on his/her own pace, provided the right environment to develop the targeted skills.

But what these parenting books and social media accounts do NOT mention is the grief that comes with saying good-bye to the previous stage. The last toothless grin. The last night in the swaddle. The last day of being on one's back all day. The last spit-up. Typically, these "lasts" creep in slowly that they are almost imperceptible until a few days or weeks after.

In my son's case, I was marvelling at how good he's becoming with cruising. He used to crawl to reach an object that has caught his attention. But in late December, he pulled himself to stand in his playpen for the first time. A few weeks later, he was already cruising! Very exciting developments and I am honoured to witness these firsts firsthand.

Then during my son's well-child visit, the pediatrician told me that the next time we see each other, I'll be bringing a toddler.

Say good-bye to the baby and hello to the toddler.

It took a few hours for that statement to sink in.

With each passing day, I'm losing sight of the newborn who spat up on me every time he drank milk, who acted like an escape artist to free himself from the swaddle, and who slept for 45 minutes at a time (thus not giving me the chance to "sleep while the baby sleeps"). At the same time, I am getting to know the emerging toddler who has an outgoing and curious personality, who loves to test out textures and flavours, and who has just discovered the joys of independent play.

On the one hand, it's heartbreaking because time flies so fast that I don't even have a chance for closure as I folded up my son's preemie clothes for storage. But on the other, it's exciting and fascinating because my son's world is slowly opening up and I witness this as it happens. Toddlerhood is much longer than infancy though, and much tougher because that's when the child begins to explore his boundaries. So I'll allow myself to savour these days and weeks of my son being in between being a baby and being a toddler.

Motherhood is challenging!