A Walk With a Toddler

We've had a beautiful couple days here in the MidWest.  It was 55degrees before 8 a.m, AND it was my day off.  All signs point to a day at the park with my girl, enjoying fresh air and some 1 on 1 girl time!

We went to Washington Park which is Springfield's "Central Park."  It has mature trees, huge playground, ponds, walk routes and bike paths, etc.  It's pretty close to home and just a hop to get there.  I had PT today for my knee and wanted to be close if it really started to kick up with pain.  It was also pretty windy today so those big trees (bare as they were) were going to provide a little shelter from the wind.   

The first thing we did was hit the playground area and find Nea's favorite statue.  She's loved this thing since she could first toddle around the playground at 9 months old.  I have picture after picture of her with this thing, and I swear that her senior picture should be taken with it!

Then of course we spent a bit exploring the playground.  Nea is a climber and loves the slides, the monkey bars, and being pushed in the swings as high as she can go.  She always tosses her head back to let the breeze hit her in the face, watching the world upside down.  Its a lesson we all probably need to remember.  And like most toddlers, she likes to have a "touch" experience as much as possible.  I am a firm believer that girls should get dirty, grimey and stinky.  Mine is right on track!

After about 20 min on the playground she kept venturing over near the swings and looking at the woods (see background in doggie picture above).  I would say "come back" and she would kick the dirt up a bit, turn around and come back to me.  My knee was feeling okay, but I was too fearful that a romp down a hill would be all it could handle, or I would trip, or I would torque it some how and be in one hell of a mess.

However, after about the 5th time of watching the face of a very disappointed little girl......I decided to brave it.  "Oh, okay, fine.  Let's go!"

......and off she went!  She ran with wild abandon through this path and squealed with delight the entire way.   Every once in awhile, she would pause, look back for me, smile, and keep on walking.

I was trying not to panic.  As you can see in this photo, she's quite a distance from me.  If I wanted to stop her from doing something or falling I wouldn't be able to. And not to mention, I'm just not fast right now with my bummed out knee.  But as I walked in this entrance, and felt the trees and Mother Nature surround me, I just let the panic slip away.  

This was her first stop.  A huge, old piece of wood.  She examined it in all kinds of ways and made sure that nothing was missed.  Finally she picked it up to stand it on it's end and watched it fall flat.  A great lesson in gravity as well as cause and effect.  See that path behind her....yah, I walked that all without any pain.  In fact at this point I'm so absorbed in watching my daughter explore the woods that I've forgotten about my knee.

This picture is a pause to pick up a seedling and a stick.  Now it's  a lesson of "compare and contrast."  She dropped the stick soon enough (she's always been fond of them), but kept ahold of the seedling for quite awhile.  I remember thinking, "Man, it's just the little things, isn't it?"  It just is.

We moved all the way down the hill, close to the pond.  We stood and watched the ducks for awhile.  This was probably one of the most serene scenes for me.  Surrounded by Mother Nature, my daughter in my arms and both of us enjoying the splendor that is our world.  We sat on the log for a little break because I realized that I'd made it down this huge hill but now I had to make it back up!  I wasn't sure how I was going to do that and as I did another self-check, I realized that there was no pain......

This is the view at the bottom of the hill, looking towards the path.  It looked more than daunting and I was a bit nervous again that pain would get in my way.  What is very difficult to see in this picture is the red dot in the trees.  That red dot is actually a cardinal.

A cardinal holds much significance for me.  It is the first bird that I ever recognized it's song even when it wasn't seen.  It also reminds me of my Dad as the Cards were his favorite team.  Since his death more than 20 years ago, the cardinal has always come to me with some sort of message.  I guess you could say its my totem animal.  The cardinal makes me pause and think and sometimes I even feel like it's bringing a little "I love you" message from my Dad.

I remember once being up with my newborn during the wee hours of the morning.  We were still trying to get the hang of the whole breastfeeding thing and it was frustrating from time to time. The chair I was sitting in was right by my front window and I could sit there to watch the sun rise.  During a few "new Mommy" tears, I looked up when a bird caught my eye.  It was a cardinal that flew right into the bush outside the window and just looked back it me.  That moment made me pause, take a deep breath and muster the courage to keep doing what I was doing.  I even said out loud, "Yah, okay, I got it Dad."  And off the cardinal flew.....

So when I saw this bird sitting at the top of the hill (I sure wish the phone had "zoom") I thought of my Dad immediately.  "Yah, okay...I got this Dad."  Nea must have sensed my resolve because she started marching up the hill.

Full of concentration on walking, making sure each step was steady, trying to be sure my toddler was safe, trying to flex/extend my leg perfectly for good walking measure I saw Nea veer off the path towards this area in the picture.  "What is she doing???!?!"  For Pete's sake, I was on a roll and just needed to stay on the path, keep the momentum going and get to the top of this damn hill!  Clearly she was looking for something.....something that caught her eye.  I have NO idea how anything caught her eye....look at all the brown leaves in there.  Piles and piles of leaves, sticks, logs, branches.....

What?!?!?  A 4-leaf clover?!?!?  How in the world did this child find this green VERY rare item buried underneath piles and piles of dead leaves?

She communed with that clover for a very long time.  I probably should have done the same and rubbed it all over me for good luck, but I was so in awe of the entire situation I didn't know what to do!

When I looked up...we were at the top of the hill.

Unbelievable.

And I felt GReAT!  No pain, great energy, my body felt amazing.  It's the first time in 6 months that I have been able to be in concert with my body instead of fighting with it constantly.  I was exhilarated!

This is the final picture at the top of the hill.  She's holding an acorn cap (a HUGE one, it's a type I've never seen).  Of course she still believes that one cannot really "know" a thing until you touch it with your lips.  She doesn't really mouth stuff or put stuff in her mouth anymore as much as she's trying to experience every aspect of it....and taste is a sense she firmly believes in.

One last spin on the playground from my Nature-loving toddler before heading home.

Look at her.  The sun on her face.  The wind on her skin.  She loves every single aspect of it.  It's my job to make sure she has every opportunity I can find her to experience Nature how she wants.







"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." 
         ~~ Henry David Thoreau