Tom came home early today and we took Owen to the park. And boy, did he surprise us at the park!
Normally he doesn’t walk much on the grass because it’s uneven walking and he’s still a little unsteady. And normally he stops at the edge of the “big kids” play area because the sandy area is surrounded by a cement border that he just can’t quite get up and over by himself.
Except that today he mastered both! Tom was just following along behind him, expecting him to stop at the cement…but up and over he went with no problems, and traipsed around the play area kicking up sand! Then he spent quite a bit of time wandering around the grassy park, stopping to pick up a stick every now and again!
Then the fun came… Some high school kids were playing volleyball and, well, you know how much Owen LOVES balls—so he took off across the park to get to the ball. Did he let the hill stop him? No way! So he went up a little hill, then down the little hill, then probably 30-40 yards to the volleyball pit. Over and over and over (we kept carrying him back, because he would not turn around to leave on his own). It was soooo cute! We eventually had to leave the park because he refused to do anything else but try and get to the volleyball. (It’s hard to tell in this photo, but he’s at the base of the hill and that tan line running across the middle of the picture is a foot trail at the top of the hill.)
The other big thing for the day was…his first [local] babysitter! Tom and I had dinner plans and since we didn’t have any grandparents here…we had to use our first babysitter! We had scoped her out beforehand (i.e. emailed and met in person—we found her on a babysitter forum) so we were completely comfortable. I wasn’t nervous or sad or anything, but it just felt strange leaving him. He did just fine, and she loved him, telling us he was the easiest and happiest baby she’s ever had! YAY OWEN!