A Little Walk

Yesterday I took Gabriel outside because it was so nice (upper 60's, low 70's) and he trotted up the sidewalk with me tagging along. When he reached the end of the sidewalk, he wanted to turn right, and since that is a busier road, he had to hold Mommy's hand, which was fine, and he just toddled away. We walked all the way around the block, which is a long way for him to walk, and he had a GREAT time. We talked mainly of "cars" and "Daddy", with the occasional "ball" thrown in. He just chattered away as we walked - it was just adorable. He had to stop and squat down to look at some dandelions by the road, and we talked about that. When we were a couple of houses away from home, it started to rain, so I picked him up and hurried home, to many tears of disappointment - he would have LOVED to stay outside, rain or no. He did such a good job holding my hand. What a sweet pumpkin.

One of his newfound abilities in recent days is being able to climb onto our bed, all by himself, where he hurls himself around with unsurpassed glee. It's like a giant trampoline to him, with what he sees as an ensured soft landing. We have mini-heart attacks, on the other hand, as he flings himself down too close to the window or the footboard for our comfort. Today he was in mid-climb on top of our dresser when Tim exerted his baby-redirection skills. The pea-brain dog thinks that somehow, if mom and baby are on the bed, she would be safe if only she could get under the blankets. She's not too smart, because the child is merciless in his pursuit of the dog. Blanket + dog = an even softer and delightfully wiggly landing.

Sometimes I have regretted teaching Gabriel to go to bed awake so that he can fall asleep without us having to be there, because I miss being able to hold him to sleep - he can't hardly sleep unless he is in bed, or in a moving car. This afternoon before his nap, I got his blankets and offered to rock him, and he trotted right over and climbed into my lap, where he fell fast asleep as I was singing to him. What a nice feeling.