Leave some room for the Holy Ghost

Last Saturday was a beautiful day here in Northwest Arkansas - in the seventies, clear skies, slight breeze. Ideal weather for a date in the park, eh? Well, Alex was the one with the date. Timothy and I just went to chaperone because A isn't allowed to date on his own 'til he's married. And maybe not even then.

His date, Lucy, just turned a year old and is the daughter of our friends, Robert and Aimee. Aimee (pronounced M.A., which is French for "loved") and I have been meaning to get the kids together for...about eight months now, and finally we made plans for a playdate in the park. Right in the nick of time, eh?

We started things off at the swings, which, for some reason, I don't have any pictures of...Oh yeah, Tim had the camera. That 'splains it. The kids started looking a little green after about fifteen minutes of swinging, so we took them out and sat 'em on the grass to get better acquainted. Apparently, the "getting to know you" process for babies goes a something like this:

Staring...

...finger counting...yup, all there...

...forehead rubbing...

...and if all goes well, it ends with hugs...

...and they crawl off into the sunset together.

Well, really, they crawled off to the sand together. It was Alex's first up and close encounter with sand, and he was pretty fascinated.

Unfortunately, his fascination led to him throwing sand at Lucy's face (which, to be fair, she was also doing to him), so we quickly nixed that idea and moved the party back to the grass, where more unusual friendly-gesturing ensued.

Like nose-picking...

...more forehead rubbing...

...and head patting.

What I neglected to capture on film, mostly because I'm not psychic, was that Alex stood up on his own for at least five seconds. FIVE SECONDS!! I know that doesn't sound like very long, but when you're talking about a baby standing, it really is! Seriously, close your eyes, picture Alex standing by himself, on the grass in the middle of the park, and count to five. ONE one thousand, TWO one thousand, THREE one thousand, FOUR one thousand, FIVE one thousand. See!? That's a long time! And I have a feeling that he could've stood longer, but we were so excited about his accomplishment that Timothy exclaimed, "Holy cow!!" and caused Alex to whip his head around, which threw off his balance and down he went. He has "let loose" on several previous occasions, but none for such an impressive length of time. I don't think walking is imminent just yet, but this certainly is a "step in the right direction"!

Finally, it was nearing dinner time and A had chosen to skip his afternoon nap that day, so he was tired and hungry and it was time to head home. For Alex, that meant making his way to the car on his hands and knees. It seems that his aversion to grass is now enjoying the Floridian sun, living in a nice retirement home, next door to his gag reflex.