My Little Dirt Kid

Somehow overnight Max no longer seems like a baby in any sense of the word.  He’s saying more and more words every day, happily pointing to his “nooooooooose” in the middle of his cute smooshy face and spouting off the usual “no” and “mine” for good measure.  No worries though, the little baby hugs and “muah” sounds with his slobbery baby kisses make up for it.

But in addition to his rapidly expanding vocabulary, I am amazed that this kid seems to be in 20 places at once.

He zooms from one place next so quickly I can literally lose him in my own house. This weekend he was running from one place to another in the park, then happily blowing bubbles, then immediately running over to start climbing up a chain link fence.

Up and down stairs, pulling on this, falling off that.  Words like hither, tither and yon come to mind from his story books.   Whether it’s escaping imaginary monsters below…

Or trying figure out how to try to climb up a vine from an old southern oak…

Or playing in the dirt on the road that passes by the old orange grove near our home…

And happily toting sticks around wherever he can find them.  Sticks are a personal favorite these days.  Sometimes I grab them away immediately.  Sometimes I roll with it, pick my battles a little more wisely… I love watching him develop, grow and explore his new world with wonder.

My favorite new word he says is “WOW”, when he seems or hears something particularly impressive.  His use of the word in context blows my mind,  like when he heard Pavarotti hit a sharp crescendo when “O Sole Mio” driving home from day care or just when he sees a big tree.  This world is filled with so many marvelous things that we lose sight of sometimes.  I’m glad he helps remind me.

Luckily along with all the growing Max has been doing, this mommy has been growing a thicker skin and I’m accepting all the bumps, bruises, scratches, and scrapes and that happen along the way much better than I thought.  Last summer if he fell down I fell apart, now I just check for teeth and broken bones, and wipe a little of that dirt off his face.  Just a little though, you’ve got to have some on there for good measure… After all, he’s a little dirt kid, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

By the way, Max’s cute little outfit is from a little addition I have called Baby Gap.  I’ve included the following links if you want to check out the surfer dude tank , similar shorts or cutest baby Havaianas flip flops (they actually stay on)!