After a nap, Brody and I took a trip to the park because of the fairly decent temps outside. Although he did a lot of running around, he mostly went down the slides--ALL ALONE! =) He's done it a couple times randomly in the past, but today he did it over and over. How exciting!
He especially liked watching the ducks.
So we had to take a trip down to the observation "deck" to look at them. I had to keep a tight hold on him because he kept wanting to get in the water to go after them!
(If you look closely you can see my hand on his arm at the bottom of the picture....)
Mallards are SO PRETTY!!
We saw some other ducks on the way back up the ramp that we had to observe as well.
This elephant is one of Brody's favorite things at the park. He HAS to touch it every time we visit, even if it's just a pat as we are passing by. This time he was pointing out the parts of the elephant.
To climb up steps these days, Brody still uses both his hands and knees and kind of crawls up them. I'm fine with that because I don't want him to fall backwards if he loses his balance. ;-) However, the day will come when he will stand up right and just walk right up them, and I will miss seeing the few things that are still keeping him in the "baby" category as opposed to the "little boy" category. So, for now, I cherish these pictures and memories!
After all, he's already starting to try and walk DOWN the stairs like a big boy! YIKES! Why, oh, why can't the other stage come first?? =) This makes for a VERY nervous momma!
Man, where did my baby go?????? Lovin' this picture!
Ready, set.....
...GO!
My big boy is so proud of himself!
He loves to "people watch" like his mommy and daddy!
While we were there he had a dirty diaper (rare in public these days actually...) and as we were coming up the hill to our car, we noticed a newsman was video taping us. Yes, it was a fairly nice day as far as weather compared to the last few days, but not sure why he was taping us. We were the only people in that vicinity. I tried to look on the news to see if we were on there (told Brody to wave at him because it was a little awkward!), but I never saw it. Guess we weren't "exciting" enough! LOL!
Do you know just how hard it is to change a 31" tall ACTIVE little boy in cramped quarters who would rather be playing??? Let's just say, it's not easy, and takes LOTS of patience and a good attitude! ;-)
Back on the playground, he kept trying to catch the leaves that were blowing past us. Very cute to watch actually. He finally caught one but it took a few tries! =)
I was so proud of him because he actually climbed up these stairs all on his OWN!!! This was the first time for him to accomplish this feat!
And, he even got himself ready to slide down...
...then slid on his OWN! WOW! =)
Yay! I DID it! =)
He got a big kick watching me slide down the slide after him!
You'd think he'd eventually give up trying to climb up the slides since every time...
...THIS is what happens! =) BUT, he doesn't because he is a DETERMINED little boy. I have a pretty good feeling that all too soon he WILL be able to climb up them.
He kept saying "wing, wing" and pointing to the swing so I put him in it. Of course, it didn't last long since he's still not a swing fan, but if he's asking for something within reason these days, I'm all about obliging. I'm just tickled pink that he's able to communicate with us now so I don't want to put a damper on it by ignoring his requests. ;-)
He's a boy of repetition, I've learned. I realize it's probably the age, but who knows? Maybe he will be like his dad?? He walked back and forth, back and forth over this bridge for about 3-4 minutes...wonder what's so exciting about that? Ha ha...
I NEVER get enough of these grins! He was smiling at a sweet little girl that was playing near us. He even tried following her to her car when her family left....already chasing the ladies!
When we were heading up the hill after the little girl, he took a detour after he saw the ducks again. Guess animals still win him over no matter how pretty the girls are. I'm ok with that till he's about 30! LOL! I thought he was just going to stand there and look at them from the top of the hill.
But all the sudden he took off running DOWN the hill (where the landing pad is WATER)! It kind of freaked me out, but we got it under control and I got in front of him so I could catch him if he lost his balance.
Good thing your momma is a runner, Little Buddy!
We only stayed there a minute or so because he was fighting with everything in him to try and walk closer to (or IN to) the water.
After a little (ok, a LOT of) encouraging we meandered back up the steep hill. Brody did well.
He was in such a good mood on the way home. This was in the parking lot before we left. He fell asleep by the time we were home--shocked that he actually took TWO naps today! That DOESN'T happen these days.
My sleeping angel.
After such a HUGE struggle with naps the first 11-12 months of his life, he surprisingly does very well (usually) being transferred from the car to his crib without waking up for good. He stirs some usually, but goes right back to sleep when I put him down. He used to never do that, so I am VERY grateful for a little relief in that area. We usually try to go somewhere before nap time so that he gets all his energy out and falls asleep on the way home because it's still a struggle to get him to go to sleep on his own when I just put him in his crib. He's definitely getting better, but he still fights with me about 40-50% of the time (used to be 100% so I will take the improvement!). I really think he's like me and unless he is so wound down that he can just fall fast asleep right away, he's going to have a difficult time calming down and it causes him to get upset. He hasn't quite learned how to just lay there (forever in my case) until he dozes off. Sorry, Buddy, but if you are like me, when you are older you are going to have LOTS of frustration when it comes to falling to sleep. No matter HOW exhausted you are.
After his nap, I realized why he might have taken two naps today. He woke up with 102 degree fever! Poor little guy. Even though he was a little lethargic (compared to his usually busy self), he was in a pretty good mood. He just spent a lot of time in Mommy's arms, read some books, and watched a couple of his shows (gasp!).
Here's a video of Brody climbing the steps on the slide on his own then sliding down alone. Notice how distracted he gets along the way... =) (Pardon the wind....)
1:18 min
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