I took Cedar for a walk out and about where we live. He nestled his new blue ball under his arm and against his side, like a book. For a few days now, he had been trying to figure out how to throw a ball up rather than just forward or back. He looked at these steps and ran over to them and all of a sudden, he turned facing me, with a huge smile on his face and threw it up pretty high. We both totally squealed and clapped and I handed the ball to him again. We did this for about an hour. The last photo is of him collapsing on the stairs in blissful exhaustion. I tried to capture his excitement with my phone to send to my family and friends. I wanted to share it with you too.
We were breaking in his new rain paints we got at REI. They squeak when he walks but I think he feels like an astronaut or something. He sort of struts with them on. Really cute.
Every day, his personality comes pouring forth. So far we have recognized that he is a huge clown and has an awesome sense of humor. Like yesterday, when I picked him up from his nap, he was a bit tender. I think he woke from a bad dream because he usually is all smiles when he wakes but this time he woke up almost screaming, with tears spilling. So, I brought him to the rocking chair and rocked for a bit in silence, cradling him like a baby. I looked down at him and started singing a song and all of a sudden he looks up at me and rolled his eyes like ..."oh mom, do you have to?!?" and I said "Cedar! Oh my gosh...what was that about?!?" with a curious smile on my face and he burst into giggles. Then he put a serious straight face on and rolled his eyes again, waiting for my reaction and then started giggling. I mean, he's not even two yet. Heck...he doesn't even communicate in full words yet but he fully understands how to make us laugh. The other night he put a box on his head and was walking around the living room bumping into things and totally cracking up. I love that he finds pure joy out of making us laugh.
Then there is this really tender side to him. Yesterday at a park, there was a women sitting on a blanket that had a look of loneliness and sadness. I noticed it but of course left her alone and sent her love quietly. Cedar was leaning up against me starring at her. His face was just so soft and worrisome. Then he broke free from me, ran up to the side of her blanket, facing her and really LOUDLY said "HI!!!!"...and she said hello, quietly back to him. He kept standing there, starring at her and again said "HI!!!" and she then looked over at me giggling and I apologized and she said to me "no, its really sweet." So he then proceeds to point up to the sky and then hold his hands out to his side and did a twirl and told her a story, in words we didn't understand (well, I sort of do by now) and it was very animated and enthusiastic and it had her gut laughing by the time he was done. Then he walked over to me, sat down by me, gave out a big sigh as though he was thinking "Mission accomplished...now I can go play". My heart about burst out of my chest.
I am so in love with the innocence and boundless energy of children. How many times do we wish we could go up to a person sitting on a blanket that is looking sad and say "Hi!!!" until it lifts their mood?
I not only love him as a mother but I really dig him as a person. I have a feeling our life is going to be full of a lot of belly laughs and joy with him around.