Miss Independent

I'm pretty sure Ryleigh has reached the two year old stage long before her actual second birthday. She is turning into little miss independent.

Yesterday I took her to the pool. Our pool is one that's set up like the ocean, where it gradually gets deeper and deeper, but at the very beginning it's like 1/2 an inch of water. Well, my little miss is not at all scared of the water. Anytime we hold her in the deep end she tries to squirm her way out of our arms so she can "swim" by herself. But I let her walk around the shallow end on her own, while keeping a close eye on her. I  usually stay right by her side to catch her anytime it looks like she might fall. But yesterday, she was upset by me standing so close. She kept a good 3 feet in between us. Anytime I took a step closer she would take 2 steps further away. She also tested her independence by getting out of the pool and walking to her towel all by herself, and then getting back in the pool all by herself. If I tried following she would turn and walk in a different direction.

Is this a precursor to when she's a teen and doesn't want me walking through the mall with her anymore?
Where did my little baby go, and who is this kid who doesn't need me anymore? ::sniff, sniff::