Small Victories

When you're a baby, small victories are big victories.

Like when you don't fall flat on your face when Mama lets go of your hands, and you manage to stand all by yourself for a few seconds before lowering yourself to your knees.

And then when you figure out that you can take a few steps on your own before you start to teeter and fall into Daddy's arms.

Or when you manange to climb all the way through the tunnel at the playground that curves up and down. This particular victory has been some time coming--each time we visit the playground, Little Man has tried and tried to get over that last bump, getting so annoyed that he would sit in the middle of the tunnel and ball up his fists and squeal in frustration.

But today was different. I could see it in his eyes when he climbed in the tunnel. Over the first hump like a champ. The middle bump took only a moment, and then he faced the last, steep climb to the end of the tunnel. I sat at the end, watching, as he searched for a foothold to get a leg up. I held my breath when he slipped, waiting for the cry that meant he'd had enough and it was time to go rescue him.

But he didn't cry, and with one final "Ooo!" from him, his tiny shoe found just the right place and there he was, on the other end of the tunnel, all three climbs behind him. He looked so surprised that I had to laugh, and then he looked so pleased with himself that I wanted to cry. I wrapped him up in a big bear hug until he wiggled to get down, then he proceeded to climb back and forth through the tunnel, yelling with excitement whenever he made it to the end. When you're a baby, small victories are big victories.

Same goes for when you're a grown-up, too.

Who Rides YOUR Bus?

The Wheels on the bus go 'round and round....
All through the town!

This has been Little Man's favorite song since the first time he heard it in story time. It is my go-to song to distract him, and I often find myself singing it during meal times or to make it through the end of a long car ride. Since it's pretty easy to blow through all th verses in just a few minutes, I've had to get creative about who rides our bus.

All of Little Man's family members ride our bus, and they all say their own special thing that goes along with their personality. Nana says "hi hi hi", MaMaw says "quilt quilt quilt", and Daddy says "Party Party Boogie", in honor of a song he made up for Little Man. We have football fans on our bus ("lets go dawgs!"), librarians ("indoor voice") and actors ("to be or not to be"). There's a whole array of animals on the bus, too, and he especially likes the chicken and mouse noises. The Wheels On The Bus has taken on a mind of it's own in our house, and I can't wait for Little Man to be old enough to help decide who rides his bus.

Something Fishy Going on Here...

Even though our home is no longer in the big city, Little Man and I have "city days" often. One of his favorite places to adventure on those days is the aquarium.

We spend most of our time in one of several large rooms with floor to ceiling tanks. Little Man presses his nose against the glass as all sorts of sea creatures swim right past him. He doesn't know to be scared or overwhelmed when a fish twice his size or--gulp--a shark goes passing by, eyeing him from the water. He just grins and waves at them and looks at me as if to say, "Mama! They come to see me!"

But his favorite by far are the sea otters, and we visit them multiple times on each of our visits. I park the stroller against the wall and lift my squirmy little boy up, where he grasps the railing and squeals with delight as the otters glide through the water, playing tag with each other. The mama otter, who is bigger than all the others, seems to love Little Man as much as he loves them--she always comes to visit him at the window and does flips and spins while he watches. It's a sweet little crush that occurs every time we visit, and while I can't explain it, I love watching it.

We visit th penguins and the beluga whales (my favorites) and we peer at the rays, starfish and crabs in the touch pools. We are not brave enough to dip our hands in the water for the "two finger touch" of the animals yet, but I'm sure one day this will be my intrepid little explorer's favorite exhibit.

Until then, I'm content to watch the otters.