the little things

I say little a lot. I just found out this was the case, actually. Braden has started imitating me (in a nice way). Here are some of the things he has been asking me lately:

• "Mom, do you want to go to a few little stores? OK. "
• "Mom, can I have a little snack? How 'bout some little chocolates?"
• "Should we do a little laundry?"
  
• "Mom, should we watch a little show?"
• "Let's go to a little park, ok?"

The best part is that he can't say his "L" sound yet, so it wounds like "widdle". And he even says the word little in the high-pitched way that I apparently do.

But, it makes me laugh. Just a widdle, every time.

We went to the park the other day and did the usual - slides and swings and such. But then we walked up this path that goes through the park and it goes up a hill. And it leads to this beautiful area enclosed by trees. There were tree stumps to sit on and everything. It was absolutely beautiful. Anyway, there were a half dozen squirrels and some bright blue birds flying near us [correction: the birds were flying, the squirrels were not] and we just watched them for almost a half hour. Braden finally figured out that you have to whisper so you don't scare them away, but it was really cool just watching these little animals for so long. I would normally be too inpatient to stop and do that, but I've been trying to consciously slow down lately. And I felt like a kid again inside. It was cool! It's funny how kids notice all those little things, all the time. I guess the one advantage to your toddler pointing out the little worms and the really smooth rocks and the puddles is that you get hourly reminders to take notice of those little things!

Anyway, I really like these two little people. They sure keep me on my toes, but they are a lot of fun.