Carpe Diem

I have to capture today, while it's still fresh in my mind - a perfect little piece of our clear, sunny February.

Little Red Poncho Hood. :)

I've suspected for awhile that Addie is an outdoorsy sort of baby.  When she was four or five months old, I could take her out into the yard with me while I hung laundry and I found her surprisingly content to pick at (and taste) the blades of grass and fallen leaves.

When we got here, the thorns were one of our first discoveries.  Naturally, I was hesitant to let our barely-crawling girl venture out of doors into the minefield of prickly things that was our new back yard.  Today was pleasant, though, far too much so to stay inside.  I had a two-year-old neighbor visiting, my own wiggly daughter, and a box of big, round sidewalk chalk, as well as an empty driveway.

At first, Addie showed an interest in coloring the concrete, but soon found her true passion alongside the pavement: dirt, and little rocks.  I let her venture, often warning her to "spit it out," when she grew too interested in tasting the new-found wonderland.  For the most part, though, she behaved herself, screaming now and then to hear her voice echo off the mesa.

A couple hours later, Ben and I took her for a walk around the school track.  We stopped often to allow her to explore the football field and the track perimeter.

It's all fun and games...until Mom won't let you play
with the camera.

  Eventually, she found just what she had been looking for: a sandy shoulder, smoothed by the wind and just waiting for her.  We placed her on the ground and watched her scoot-crawl a few feet onto the sand.  She plopped herself down on her bottom, found some sticks for poking, and didn't move or pay us any attention for the rest of the outing.

Ben and I watched and did our best to document the event, finding that not even the ever-coveted camera could tear her interest from the dirt.  I was surprised and delighted, and I'm pretty sure Ben was too.  By the time we took her home, her left knee was, of course, tanned with dust from the crawling.  Bits of grass stuck out of her socks and she was less than happy to be leaving the fun behind.

There was just time for a quick (and much-needed) bath before nap time.  Part of me was discouraged with my Saturday and the amount of work I planned to and did not do, but at least the time felt well spent.  In the midst of my bad attitude about the lack of cold or snow, I remember just a little what it was like to be a child at the onset of Spring.  I certainly wouldn't mind having more days like this one, even if my house is still messy.

As I write this, thoughts of the coming summer, and of the energetic girl who will need exercise and entertainment, are also floating about in my head.  I think it's decided - we need a sandbox.