Today we've had some amazing weather here in Connecticut. After shipping eBay items and getting my haircut, I spent the afternoon with Mom and Isom, marveling at the subtle warmth and breezes that swept through our opened windows and doors.
Isom and I spent lots of time outdoors, taking random walks to random places. Of course we went to the park to swing, and my-oh-my it was the most invigorating swing yet. He held onto the chains and shrieked each time we made our descent. But there wasn't a smile or laughter to his shriek; it had more to do with his ability to let go and let the ride happen. You see, even babies struggle with relinquishing control, especially since they have a built-in mechanism for survival. They spend a lot of the day crying, and this crying is a way to control their environment (their parents!) as to ensure that they are fed and taken care of. We adults do a lot of the same crying and whining throughout the day out of fear that our needs won't be met. So, to watch him relinquishing his need to control the moment made me release my control; I gave the ground a big uncontrolled kick, and the swing not only swung, but it twisted and turned.
Afterward I walked Isom to a nearby tree and watched as he touch and rubbed the bark. I pointed out the trees various parts: "Isom, this is the tree's bark, which makes up the trees trunk, which has outgrowing stems, limbs, and branches with leaves attached." Boy was he in awe of this humongous thing. We stood there for what had to be 5 minutes--a long time for an infant, he cried when we left it behind, and I made a silent promise to do more tree-bonding later.
Upon exiting the park, we ran into our "Neighbors" and we chatted with them for a long time. "Neighbors" took the time to examine Isom's new/first tooth over and over again, and we made small talk about our newer neighbors down the street. It seems that the newer neighbors have a daughter who's attached herself to "Neighbors" son. And this little girl has to be about 3 years older than he is (He's only in the first grade, but he's very wise for his age and was riding a two-wheeler bike at the age of two! I'm serious, I saw it for myself).
After rapping with "Neighbors," Isom and I took some more walks and chilled out. I did keep my promise and we bonded with another tree (I know the folks down the street were wondering what in the heck we were doing). Our departure from this particular tree caused him even more frustration than the first. The weather man says it'll be in the 60's for the next couple of days (so strange for Connecticut), so I'll be sure that Buddy has another rendezvous with his two favorite perennial woody plants (Um, that only means trees.).
Enjoy your Friday night and I'll chat with yous guys latas.
