We just wrapped up a really perfect weekend.  Saturday morning commenced with cornmeal waffles and coffee.  After breakfast, napping, and chores, we finally made it out of the house for a walk around town to enjoy the glorious spring weather we’ve been having.  Saturday was Green Up Day, as evidenced by the periodic bright green bags of detritus that we’d pass along the roadside.  During our walk through town, we randomly ran into the governor of Vermont, who was participating in some sort of bizarre parade that involved college girls throwing beaded necklaces at unsuspecting onlookers.  Holden was lucky enough to have a college girl give him his very own beads:

We missed the Storm Troopers, much to Rob’s disappointment, so we left the downtown area and headed to the park where we enjoyed some swinging and sliding:

Holden absolutely loves going to the park because he is fascinated by the older kids.  Eventually we tired him out enough to go home so I could get ready for a bike ride with my friend Sue.  I realized yesterday with embarrassment that I had not been on a bike in about two years.  Rob graciously agreed to watch H for a couple hours while Sue and I hopped on the bike path and rode alongside the lake, chatting and giggling the whole way.  We stopped and sat on the beach for a while, taking in the lake and mountains.  The air was absolutely intoxicating.  And I felt so free to not have a squirming, flailing, groping, little guy clinging to my ankles.  It was just a fabulous time.  We rode back into town, cleaned ourselves up, collected Rob and H, and then went to a friend’s house for cocktails and appetizers.  

Sunday morning was a cleaning frenzy in anticipation of showing our house to some prospective buyers.  Once we got the cleaning out of the way, we took another walk.  Our first stop was the local library.  The library has an amazing youth area with couches, toys, stuffed animals, etc.  Any time I have ever taken H there, it’s usually pretty crowded with young kids, ranging from 2-5 years of age.  I took H to the library earlier this week, and he was so excited to see the older kids.  He kept crawling over to them, interrupting their games and unknowingly disrupting the fragile sense of order that these youngsters had worked so hard to achieve with their playmates.  I kept grabbing H and reeling him in so that he wouldn’t interfere with the bigger kids too much, but every time I would try to get him to give the kids some space, he would throw a tantrum.  And today was the same thing all over again.  He wants to play with the big kids but doesn’t quite know how.  And when it was time to leave he would arch his back and cry and squirm.  Earlier this week at a children’s store, it was the same drill.  Holden was playing with a two-year-old girl, allowing her to feed him Legos and kiss him on the nose.  And when it was time to go, he protested, flailed, and squirmed.  I guess it’s good that he’s not shy around other people, but I have a feeling he’s going to be the kid who will complain about not wanting to leave his friend’s house when he is older.

After the library debacle, we enjoyed more swinging:

followed by H’s first cookout in our yard parking lot:

Holden just loved eating outside!  He has been a pretty happy camper lately.  I don’t know whether the nice weather and fresh air has lifted his spirits or whether he is getting past a rough patch with the teething (for now).  I do know that he has been a lot of fun to spend time with over these past couple of weeks.  He’s really starting to acquire quite the vocabulary.  He knows “bath” and “wagon,” and is actually capable of walking behind his wagon, which means that unassisted walking is probably right around the corner.  I have more to say, but it’s past my bedtime.  I’m working on planning his first birthday party and I return to work in 3 short days.  It will be time to go strawberry picking soon, and I can’t wait for Holden to sit in the grass, savoring a sweet strawberry, complete with sticky hands and face.