We took Andrew to an indoor fair the other day. And while he seemed to enjoy himself, I couldn’t help but feel that the end of one era was imminent and a new one was just around the corner.

He first seemed to be taken with one ride, whose most striking feature was that it was the tallest (or second tallest) ride in the fair. No matter how many times I asked him if he wanted to go on it, the answer was always the same: “Yes”.

So here we have a child who has never been on something that monstrous, yet was keen to undertake the challenge. And while that’s quite admirable, it also felt like the seeds of independence – and specifically, independent thought – had started to sprout.

I took him on that ride, and he enjoyed it. He laughed and giggled as I spun the gondola around and around – slowly at first, then faster as I realized that he wasn’t afraid. I was very proud of him in that moment.

Later he took a turn in kid-sized bumper boats, in a kid-sized pond. And while it was previously the case that he couldn’t bear to let go of Mommy or Daddy’s hand and venture on his own, he now managed to do just that. It took a little coaching, but he allowed the nice lady to help him into the kid-sized boat and float off on a kid-sized adventure while Daddy turned his back – briefly – to ascend to the adult-sized viewing area.

And he was content – until he decided that he had had enough, wanted out, and would stand and get himself out if that’s what it came to.

He’s still an innocent boy after all.