Somewhere in California is the old Stephen that I knew.

The old Stephen was shy and didn’t much like interacting with strangers whether kid or adult.

The old Stephen wanted me, and only me, to carry him whenever we were out and hardly ever left my side.

The old Stephen didn’t stay asleep when laid in bed by himself and always had to have a bit of maju before drifting off again.

The new Stephen can get so caught up in what he’s doing that he doesn’t want his mother. While he was in the backyard with my parents, he was having such a good time that when my parents got tired and told him to “go look for mama,” he said, “NO!”

The new Stephen (mostly) doesn’t mind his grandparents or aunt to carry him.

The new Stephen is bold in the playroom. He still has moments of anxiety when he feels that another kid is making a threatening move, but instead of running to me, he just scurries away and says, “Please stop.”

The new Stephen is affectionate with people other than his mother. Today, he ran to our maid while she was babysitting another little girl and gave her a big hug, ran to me to give me a big hug, then repeated it one more time. When I asked if he was going to give the little girl a hug too, he did so while saying, “Big hug.”

The new Stephen is outgoing and friendly. As he was climbing up the stairs from the ground floor up to the first floor, he said hi to every person coming down. When one of them asked what his name was, he looked down and pulled at his t-shirt as if his name was written there and he needed a hint.

The new Stephen loves to run around on his own two feet. While waiting for Marv to pick us up for dinner tonight, Stephen did circles around the outside of the apartment building. He held his flashlight in his left armpit, held my hand with his right hand, and was very busy going up and down ramps and stairs, and in and out doors.

The new Stephen is definitely harder to manage, but even more fun to have around.