out of doors

D and I spent a good 2 hours at the playground this morning. Usually there's not many people out yet in the morning, but today there happened to be 3 other blond-headed boys all about D's same age (ranged from 15-18 months) to play with. One of the moms/boys I'd already met a couple times at the playground, the others were new. It was really nice, all of us kinda chatting as our kids ran around (one of the reasons I love that playground-- it's gated in so no fear of kids running off, so can risk carrying on some semblance of a conversation with others at the same time). They all seemed to live around here and frequent that park often, so hopefully we'll meet up again. I even managed to remember their names (both the kids AND the moms!) and wrote them down just in case. I'm so bad at remembering names usually, someone will introduce themselves to me and 2 seconds after they say their name I've already forgotten it. I've started making a conscious effort to repeat their name in my head a couple times right away, even repeat it out loud to them, and that seems to help "seal" the name in my memory.

Anyway, so the kids were playing and one of the moms had a friend with this cute puggle (pug+ beagle, never actually seen one before) that came by as she was walking her dog. This dog turned out to be the most gentle creature ever. She's so well trained that they can let the little boy hold the leash and "walk" the dog (as in, kid holds leash, dog walks at perfect pace for kid to keep up, they walk along together... and OH MY GOD if it isn't the CUTEST SIGHT EVER). So of course, as soon as the kid saw his friend and the dog he wanted to go say hi and "walk the dog." Pretty soon all the boys were out patting the dog, D included although he never actually touched the dog (other than a couple near-eye-pokings) but he did get to walk the dog himself for a good bit. Seriously, adorable beyond words. I wish I'd gotten pictures.

The afternoon was much less fun and cute-- we spent much of it running errands, with D being a bit whiny for a lot of it. Both yesterday and today he woke up extra early, as in around 5am, and has been visibly tired very early in the day as a result. Yesterday he took a morning nap because of it, today I avoided that in the hopes that it'll make it more likely that he sleeps in somewhat tomorrow (like, you know, 6am). But it meant that for all of today he was more touchy and grouchy, which let me tell ya that's LOADS of fun to deal with. Speaking of which, I don't know if it's temporary grumpiness or just the way things are going now, but I've noticed a significant shift in D's happiness levels while in the stroller out shopping. As in, he doesn't have nearly the patience he used to, and browsing is now mostly out of the question when out with him. Which kinda sucks. But I guess it's an excuse/reason to demand solo shopping time more often when Zach can watch him. I suppose I also need to figure out ways to play games and involve him in the shopping experience (whether for food or clothes, etc-- anyone have tips?) so he feels more involved and, hopefully, more patient and agreeable. Sounds easier said than done...