Big Girl Walk

Alex and I took her first big girl walk this morning when we discovered that we had forgotten to get the car seat out of daddy's car, making it impossible to go to the library. We decided it was a nice day outside, and a walk would be fun. And what could be more fun than walking with Alex without a stroller?

Lots of things, actually.

But we still had a good time. She stuck mostly to the side of the street, choosing to walk in the concrete drainage areas. Which means we had many mishaps with sticks that grabbed her and pulled her down, and many adventures with not picking up trash. Who knew there was so much tempting debris along our streets? It's so tiny you don't notice it unless you're a toddler looking for trouble.

So, we "held" hands, or should I say I had a death grip on her hand and she let me. She resisted crossing the street at one point and tried to cross back over, and multiple times wanted to turn around and go back where we just walked. Not because there was something there, she just gets bored with going in one direction for two long.

She was very excited to see cars go by. So much so that she cried every time they drove past. She finally ended the walk for us by melting down and cried most of the two blocks home. I carried her, needless to say. In fact, there was a lot of carrying going on.

But we got home relatively unscathed - one road-rashy knee after a particularly spectacular fall- and then we went out back to play in the yard. She ate or attempted to eat:

Countless tiny pebbles.
One small stick.
Mud, lots of mud.
Some really old snow that turned into an ice chunk.
Bigger rocks, probably three. None were eaten, all were gnawed. Great for sharpening her teeth.
A very small part of the concrete lion statue. Yes, that was probably mostly eaten. You have no idea how difficult it is to pry open a toddler's mouth to retrieve concrete that's turned into a sticky goo and already mostly been swallowed. We should find that sometime tomorrow, I'm guessing.

After her culinary adventures and much soaking up of mud into her pants, Alex was placed in the kitchen sink and hosed down (mouth and all) with the sprayer. This should have knocked any and all concrete/pebble particles out of her mouth. Which direction they went I can't say, but again, tomorrow will tell.

Lots of MommyDaddy's today too. It's the new favorite catch phrase.