capturing the baby stories before the toddler takes over
hey pickle! you’ve been the heart of our family for almost a year and a half now, and we want to make sure that we catch all of the stories of the last year that you’ll want to have as you get older, and that we keep gathering them for you in the years to come.
so why now? well, on saturday we went to olive branch for jessica’s birthday. dad, jason, and jessica did an orangetheory workout while dallas and i took you to the park at snowden grove. even though the sun was beating down on us, you never get tired— always running from one thing to the next. dallas took a video of us on the slides. you wanted me to go down the slide with you, which of course i did. after a few times going together, we were sitting at the top and you pushed me down to go first!
after the park, we had lunch at chicken salad chick (you were great!) and then dad drove around with you in the van so that you could get a nap. after the nap, you played at jessica and jason’s house while the adults put together a puzzle. later that evening we went to jason’s parents’ house (gigi & t) for jessica’s birthday dinner. you and henry ran around, played upstairs, played in the van, and generally had a great time.
the point of this story though, is what happened on the ride home. we left olive branch around 8 or so, and were driving home. i put on a pop music playlist, and dallas, dad and i were singing. it didn’t take very long at all for the decree to come from the back seat (you’re still in a rear-facing car seat right now): “MAMA! NO SING!” of course, i ignored you at first and kept singing. again, “NO SING MAMA”. so i stopped, just to see what you would do. dallas and dad kept singing, and you were appeased.
(for the record, of the three of us, i’m the best singer!)
after that we turned the music off, and you slept the rest of the way home. you just couldn’t sleep until you’d convinced me to stop singing!
[bonus story]
the next night, sunday, dad and i are in your room at bedtime, putting on your pajamas and getting ready to read a couple of books together, like we do every night. you put your finger in your nose, and i told you to take it out. you’re at a very defiant stage right now… so you spent the rest of the night with your finger, pointedly, in your nose! a defiant nose picking pickle.