A Walk in the Woods

Last week I celebrated one of my happiest birthdays. It was nothing earth-shaking, just very relaxing and carefree, which equals happy. In the morning Mark took Sophia to POPS (Papas of Pre-Schoolers). Jun Jun slept till 10am so he didn't get to go out. I decided that it would be nice to spend some precious one-on-one time with him. After breakfast, we leisurely cleaned up the dishes, did a load of laundry, and I took him out for a walk in the woods by Shattuck Road.

It had been raining for a few days, so on that particular morning it was cool but dry. The air was moist due to the rain, and the vegetations were lush after the wash. I put Jun Jun in our jogging stroller and headed for the rugged part of Shattuck Road. These days Jun Jun loves going out. Whenever I say, "let's go outside", he would bring his shoes over to me and signal me to put them on for him. Sometimes he also tries to reach the doorknob to open the door. Once he is outside, he would be like a bird let loose, totally embracing the great outdoor with all his enthusiasm. 

We walked along the road, admiring the smooth lawns, the various shades of green beaming from trees, moss, shrubs, ferns, and the rich texture of all these landscape that open up for us from the many little houses tugged in the woods. There were birds singing above the trees, and sometimes a few residue rain drops fell on our heads when the breeze gently brushed through the trees, making a soothing "shhhh" sound. Occasionally an airplane flew over us and disappeared in the clouds. Jun Jun would look up and try to hear where the sound came from. 

At one point I stopped in front of a bunch of wildflowers by the road to pick a blue flower to Jun Jun. 

"Wow-wer", he said, practicing one of his first words, as his pudgy little fingers held tightly the tiny flower I gave him. Then, bringing it to his mouth, he tried to blow it, recollecting all the memories of himself blowing dandelions with Fei Fei on numerous other walks we have taken together. 

More wildflowers appeared along the road, which excited me. I picked a few of them and handed to him. Very interesting, he tossed the others aside with "disdain", and just held fast to the first blue flower he received. I think this shows something about his personality and character, though still too early to determine until he's more grown. 

After about 45 minutes of walking it was time for us to go home and make lunch. I long to go back to the woods with my little ones and soak up a full body of green again.