My nephew has really taken a liking to this warmer weather and the green leaves and the colorful flowers (and election signs) that May has brought with it. It was like full-blown Spring overnight with two days of rain and then the blooming of tulips, dandelions, primroses, ornamental crab apple trees, daffodils, and an assortment of other flowers and plants that I can’t identify. Squiggle bug is noticing everything beyond the stroller (his “chariot”) these last few days, haha! The bright election signs stuck in people’s yards are fascinating to him, and when we stopped to see the pinwheels in the boulevard yesterday, he got to meet the local weatherman’s standard poodle “Skipper”, who was very interested in Squiggle Bug and friendly, thankfully. Skipper had gotten away from the man and his wife and headed straight for Cullen. Cullen didn’t mind the dog at all. The weatherman’s wife said, “He always goes for the cute ones!” Squiggle bug actually reached out and brushed his hand along the leaves of one of the trimmed hedges as we were walking the other day, too. He wanted to feel them. We stopped so he could feels some sapling leaves on down the sidewalk a bit further. He leans forward at different angles in the stroller, ready to see what he can see next, whether it be a bicyclist or a noisy motorcycle or a big, bright truck, looking around as not to miss anything. It’s interesting how he began seeing flowers as we showed them to him and noticing everything on the ground as we pass by (and leaning over to try to pick it up, of course!). My brother said he picked up a pine cone and let Squiggle Bug feel it the other day and that was a big deal to him. I squatted down to show him flowers along the way the other day, and the rubber-necking began! He’s so fun to watch!!! I wonder what he must think of all of this? I’m sure it must be his non-lingual version of, “Hey, do you guys see all this stuff? Did you know all this stuff was here??? Look at this! Look at that! Hey! What’s that noise? Hey, guys, look at that over there!!!” His shadow is particularly puzzling, it seems, as are mirrors. I wish I could be inside his head to experience the wonder and the thought processes he’s going through, haha! It would be such a world of discovery to see and hear and feel every time he goes out! When he gets exhausted and tired of leaning all over the place (thank God he’s strapped in!), he’ll chew on the strap end for a bit and look around until he sees something else he has to practically jump out of his chariot to see. He naps really well after our walks, haha! For us adults, it would be the equivalent of how we would feel at the end of the day after trying to take in all of the wonders of the Smithsonian Institute or the Museum of Science and Industry or SeaWorld all in one day. We’d fall into bed after a drink of water with our clothes and shoes still on, asleep before our heads even hit the pillows!!!
Squiggle Bug absolutely loves it outside. Gramma and I make sure to point things out to him and he likes just sitting in his stroller or on my lap outside, watching Gramma dig dandelions out of the grass in the yard after a nice walk, too. Last night, when Jerrold and I were watching him, we took him outside in the stroller that we got for him and he loved it! He just likes being outside and feeling the breeze and breathing the fresh air. It’s a whole different environment with birds flitting about and bumblebees buzzing, and green stuff everywhere right now! Being outside really calms him down. His brain gets exhausted with all of the thought that goes into these new experiences, haha! That’s good. I hope he has fantastic dreams about everything outside!!! Gramma and I always sing a little song to him while we’re walking with him outside – “We are O-U-T, We are O-U-T, We are O-U-T, Outside, Outside, Outside!” He kicks his feet excitedly when we sing, and bounces up and down if we’re holding him when we sing it. Fun times. He just turned 10 months old two days ago!
CLIMBING 4 THE REST OF US 