walks

Why do we have twenty million pictures of M walking around the block? Because it is her all-time, absolutely, very favoritest thing to do. Heaven help you if you utter the word "walk" without the intention to immediately take her out of the apartment. In fact, just the sight of her shoes can send her into conniptions. She doesn't care if it's raining, if it's freezing outside, or if she just came in from an hour-long walk five minutes ago. It is always time to go outside.

Walks are for finding rocks and sticks, checking on the neighbors' chickens, digging in flower beds, and dropping random tiny things through the holes of everyone's water meter covers. (Dear Water Meter People: We apologize for the countless piles of twigs, pebbles, and other pieces of accumulated debris.)

Sometimes, M suddenly stops to take a break. This usually involves yelling "sit!" and perching for no less than twenty seconds but no more than forty on a neighbor's front step. Occasionally, though, M finds other things to sit on.

Yes, she is trying to lick the tree. While hugging it.

Dandelions, large insects, crows, loud trucks, and puddles of water all require closer investigation. Especially puddles of water. Remember that little cast we're keeping "clean and dry" for the next few weeks? Yeah, right.

While Mama and Dad may feel like they've explored every inch of sidewalk within a half-mile radius of our house, M's walks are usually at least mildly entertaining. Sometimes, they give Mama a break so that dinner prep can happen without a soundtrack of hoots and howling. Other times, they give M a chance to meet other people her size. And two or three solid hours of walking in a day is always guaranteed to wear the kid out for bedtime, which, in itself, is a beautiful, beautiful thing.