Walkie Wednesday

I may be having a crappy walking week, but damn my kid is gorgeous!



The Boy has been particularly ornery this week, or maybe it's just him becoming more of a boy, but it has left me exhausted. I've had to move furniture to keep him from climbing it, move all of my essentials(lip salve, cell phone, tissues) out of reach and I've had to begin to sort out yet another move of my poor books up the bookshelf - and they've already been moved as high as the back of the 3rd shelf!

My poor books.

The end result of all this moving and chasing is that Walkie Wednesday isn't so walkie. Oh well. My boy may be a daredevil, but at least he's a super cute daredevil!

Walkie Wednesday

I love Autumn! Even though it’s still 100+ degrees here(stupid Southern California heat wave!), you can still tell that Fall is on it’s way. The days are getting shorter, kids are back in school and the shops are hawking Halloween wares.

30 years ago this time of year would have been heralded with a walk to the bus stop with my mom and an inexpert covering of my textbooks in old grocery bags. 20 years ago I would have improved my textbook covering, ditched Mom and walked to school myself – high hair mini skirt firmly in place as I walked through fallen leaves in new wing-tips.

I spent the Autumns of the mid-late 90s walking around campuses with half my weight in books strapped to my back, save for 1997 – when I spent a drunken Fall in Brussels. Yeah, cobble stones and warm Belgian waffles make for a fine Fall.

The noughties were spent in the much more Fall-friendly climes of London and Vancouver. London was all about bundling up in a pea-coat and sitting in a warm pub; Vancouver was all fire-colored leaves and hot coffee. Well, everywhere is hot coffee for me, but it’s different in Fall.

I was still sort of able to go on walks when we moved to London – long, aimless walks past parks and Victorian homes. My favorite Fall memory of London was starting graduate school, wandering through Bloomsbury in the brisk Fall air. By the time we got to Vancouver my walks were shorter, but no less reverential to the weather gods who could produce a cool, clear day with a gentle breeze to blow orange leaves from the trees.

Now that The Boy is more aware of his surroundings I’m wondering how he’ll respond to Fall. Will he love pumpkin-flavored things as much as me? Will he appreciate jumping into piles of fallen leaves? Will he resent being forced to wear the Yoda costume I got for him for Halloween?

Walkie Wednesday

Today is Walkie Wednesday, but I thought I’d also do a Boy word-check today.

Just shy of 14 months, my clever little love now says mama, dada, nana(banana), haaa(hi), daaaaa(bye), uhf(woof), baa(for what goats and sheep say), snort(for what picg say), ooh(for what monkeys say) and he can sign “eat.”

That’s nearly 10 words! Clever little lad.

Anyhoo, someday I’d like to take The Boy for a walk along the Seine, but we have to get to Paris first. In the meantime lunchtime walks with Hubs by our house and walks near the café with Grandpa will do quite nicely.

But when we do get to Paris, I think I’d like to start out by introducing him to Notre Dame, then by stopping off at Shakespeare and Co to get a book or two. We’d then round the corner and get a coffee(hot chocolate for he boy) at the café on Place St. Michel just like I did all those years ago, when I was so poor that I’d nurse a cappuccino for hours and write in my journal, because that’s all I could afford to do.

After pushing The Boy’s boredom threshold, we’d then continue traversing the quay along the Seine, me in my scooter and my boys walking beside me – rolling their eyes at my nostalgic rambling. We’d see the Louvre and Toilleries across the river and walk past Les Invalides and the Musee d’Orsay, before finally rounding a corner and being at the base of the Eiffel Tower.



Awesome!

Walkie Wednesday

Let me preface this by saying that I swore up and down that The Boy would be taking his first steps by 10 months.

Though he wasn’t actually crawling, preferring to belly flop to get from Point A to Point B, he started cruising along furniture and pushing around his wagon when he was just over 8 months. So I kept saying, “mark my words, he’ll be walking within a few weeks.”

I was soon saying that he’d be walking by 12 months. Yup, he’d be ambulatory by his first birthday. And he did me proud be taking his first independent steps on Independence Day. Hooray!

But then he retreated back to the world of crawling, actual crawling(as opposed to belly flopping), but crawling nonetheless.

What a relief it was for my back when, seemingly out of nowhere, The Boy decided to start walking like it’s his job a week after his birthday! That was a month ago, and now that he’s walked on the beach and has a pair of walking shoes I gotta say I miss the cuteness of the crawl.

Ps. I’ve been trying to get my camera to upload some recent piccies and videos of walking cuteness, but am not having any luck. Hopefully Hubs can help me sort it out after work,