Last Monday morning, I woke up in a bad mood. I was tense and stressed. I hate it when I feel that way first thing in the morning. LB has not been sleeping well lately and I'm in that frame of mind where it feels like he isn't going to sleep well for the rest of his life. I know that is ridiculous and that things will change but I'm tired. I just want him to get the sleep he needs when I want him to get it. I am apparently asking for too much. LB, like most kids, can pick up on my moods and so it was a bad combination of crabby mom and crabby three year old. That's never good. Typically, on Mondays we go to music class but it was cancelled that day. So instead our plan was to go visit the local fire department with our playgroup because it was fire prevention week and they had invited us. We got there and I immediately knew it wouldn't work out. As soon as we walked in there were a few kids crying near the door. Then they turned the lights on the fire truck and there was all this blinking and flashing. And then they decided to close the garage good with no warning and it was really loud. LB was not gonna have it. There was way too much sensory stimulation going on and he turned to me and said, "I want to go. NOW!" I decided not to fight it and we left.
I didn't feel like going back home and entering the world of crabby. Even though it was a bit chilly, I suggested to LB that we go to a great park that is near our house. He agreed. We live in the city but are lucky to live in a city that has tons of amazing parks. And they aren't just your typical parks with a playground and sandbox but are parks with tons of open green space and trails to explore and flowers to smell. I decided we both needed the fresh air. That little decision may have been one of my finer moments. We spent two hours outside just walking and running and exploring. It didn't take long for both of us to start smiling again.
Don't you love fall clothes? There is something about corduroys and down vests that make me happy.
As we were sitting on this bench, LB observed that a lot of the leaves were falling from the trees. It was a little windy so we talked about how soon it would be winter time and that most of the leaves would eventually fall. He decided he wanted to find lots of red leaves (Red is one of his many favorite colors. We are still working on the meaning of favorite.) so we started looking. He also got excited about finding "super tiny" leaves so we did that too and he put them all in my bag.
LB found a hill and immediately started running down it. The sensation of running down a hill has become a recent favorite. I joined him and he liked taking turns so that we would pass each other on the way up or down. We'd make a funny face at each other or say something goofy as we passed.
He walked around this ledge more times than I could count. He eventually got brave enough to try jumping off at a few spots.
He found a really big stick and was pleased that he could pick it up and whack it around. Boys and sticks. Sigh. There is no point fighting it.
He found a big rock and decided he needed to turn it over to look for worms. He's Mr. Curious, which can be a blessing and a curse. He didn't find a worm but he found something he'd never seen before and that's always a thrill. Perhaps it's an inch worm or a millipede? I'm not very skilled at bug identification.
We had a great morning. I'm nervous that soon it will start to get really cold but as long as we can we'll be outside exploring, digging in dirt and running down hills.
"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes." - e.e. cummings
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