Walking Man

The weather turned unbelievably beautiful and mild here over the past couple days and to revel in it we took the family on a walk around the neighborhood after dinner. One of my favorite things about watching little ones grow is how transparent they are in their pride. As grown-ups it can be considered conceited to revel in your accomplishments. But sometimes when you have slaved over a project, when it all comes together you should revel. You should be proud. You should laugh and clap and dance- but you probably don't. Dalton, on the other hand has no compunctions dancing, shouting, clapping and laughing with pride. Tonight was his first long walk out of the stroller and his sheer delight at being a big boy was beautiful to behold. He pretty much just did whatever Cayden did, so I asked Cayden to be obvious about stopping at intersections since Dalton is still learning. Being an excellent big brother, Cayden jumped in the air, then landed in a crouch with his hands outstretched in the classic "stop" sign at the next street crossing. Dalton proceeded to spend the next block walking five feet, squatting, putting his hands out and growling, then standing up and laughing like a mad man. It was one of those idyllic moments portrayed in a cheesy movie, where everything came together and everyone was laughing. Less than sixty seconds later they both diggered and started crying, but hey, I'll take what I can get.