Christopher has been a busy boy discarding his usual schedule. I have the fear that the wonderful days of two long naps are slipping away. On Wednesday, we made plans to meet Sariah with Ben, Janelle with Elliott, Heather with Gwynne, and Lisa with Lincoln and Sawyer at the local farmer's market. Christopher has gotten much better at holding hands, but when he gets anxious to run, he does. And he thinks it's a riotous game to flee from grown ups. And at one point, as I was playfully chasing after him, he fell on his knees when he hit the grassy edge of the woods. We all laughed. So for the next half hour, any freedom Topher found he ran towards the same grassy spot and fell immediately, recreating his former tumble and reveling in the moment. Such a clown!
We bought some apples and raspberries and rolls, intending to eat them for lunch at the Vienna Botanical Gardens. Christopher, however, seemed intent on eating every raspberry at the farmer's market and he started getting a little red spotted rash around his eyes soon afterwards. It didn't seem to bother him much, so I simply took note of it. And while at the Gardens, Christopher seemed more intent on feeding the turtles and geese with his food than himself. The weather proved ideal for a long stroll through the gardens, sunny but mild, especially for June. And the flowers were dancing all over the green hillsides. Christopher begged to be let free from his stroller, and as soon as his feet his the ground, he was off, stumbling down the long slope towards the catfish-filled pond. I hurried after him and kept one hand on his shoulder as he half-signed and half-said "water," over and over again. I was glad to see that he seemed to understand that he couldn't jump into the water, but the temptation was obvious. Topher seemed to enjoy just as much delight in the sunshine as he had to endure the despair of my constant shadow. The silly kid simply couldn't run away far enough fast enough, for I was always right behind him, tugging on his pants or wrestling him to the grass when he wanted to tromp in the lush flowerbeds or explore the stone drain tunnels.
We stopped again at a gazebo at the end of a platform that reached into the pond and hovered high over the water. There Christopher discovered geese and turtles and fish all fighting for food together. He spent an hour hurrying back and forth between me and the railing, snatching scraps of bread from me for the eager animals below. The other moms calmly sat under the gazebo, feeding their children content to stay near them. Mine, however, kept me jolting all over the place. We left the gazebo for a winding walk up a high grassy hill. I let Topher escape the stroller to follow after Ben and Lincoln, for whom he was calling enthusiastically. However, the steepness of the hill surprised him, and soon Christopher was tumbling awkwardly down the hill, tripping and falling and occasionally slamming into the ground. I chased after him and tried to keep him from rolling again, but that only frustrated the poor boy so much that our adventure on the hilltop ended rather quickly. We continued our stroll with the others into a wooded area where Christopher wanted to hide among the trees and bushes. When we stopped for a minute, he hurried off to the edge of the woods where we found a beautiful yellow and brown tortoise. Ben was quick to take the turtle from us, but because Christopher seemed a little nervous about the walking rock, I didn't mind Ben enjoy the tortoise in his place. Ben tried to share the tortoise with Topher, but my little guy kept turning away from it. So soon after, I strapped him back into his stroller and took him (and his many grass-stains) home for the day.
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