I’ve kind of let myself go over the holidays. Baking, cooking, parties, and so on, plus no real exercise to speak of. Well, at least I indulged mostly in homemade goodies, right? No HFCS!
Anyhoo, time to get back into my walking every day routine. Weather permitting. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning, or right after Freya’s nap. Can’t really have her sleeping in the stroller anymore. But she is so different now than she used to be when our walks started a year ago. Then I barely got a half-block before she was out like a light. Now she gazes up and around at everything, pointing at birds, dogs, and most recently, the moon.
A few days ago we were walking home, under mostly clear late afternoon skies, and she suddenly made a noise and pointed her mittened hand straight out. I looked up and there was the moon, a pale waxing gibbous above the treeline. As far as I know, it’s the first time Freya had really noticed it. I stopped the stroller and kneeled down next to her. She was wide-eyed.
“The moon!” I said. Hoping to jog her memory: “Goodnight, Moon!”
“Mmmuh!” said Freya. Yay!
“Yes! The moon.”
We walked on and she pointed and exclaimed at the moon the entire way home, until it slipped behind the trees near our house. Then she waved bye-bye to it.
Yesterday we were taking a drizzly walk along the waterfront in our town. There is a harbor there full of docks and boats. As we passed by, four big beautiful mallard ducks swam up to the pier to look for food along the rocks. I showed Freya the ducks, pointing out their green feathers and saying “quack quack” softly. She watched them with interest. Then they all moved along, skimming along the still, dark water further down the pier. And Freya waved bye-bye to them, too.
Of course, she mastered waving about six months ago. She has a perfect little “parade wave,” which she uses on almost anyone, or anything. It’s especially prominent at the grocery store, when we arrive at the checkstand, and as we are leaving, when she waves to the supermarket as we exit.
