Musings of an Amerikiwi: one of those days

Today was one of those days. One of those good days. Filled with little things to smile about. A day worth remembering.

After a late breakfast, Quincy and I took the dogs for a walk. The dogs did their usual sniffing and running on the beach, checking in with us every 100 metres or so on the periodic stairs between the walkway and the beach. Meanwhile Quincy enjoyed his "teddy bear snaaaaack" (Teddy Graham Trail Mix, a special treat from my mom that I had been saving for a special day and today seemed as special as any other) in the pram. Whenever the dogs would walk along the wall, he would giggle and say "funny dogs". By the time we got to the end of the walkway, he finished his snack and on the return, would occasionally poke his head around to tell me "all done pram". As usual, I managed to keep him in the pram with the promise of a little play on the rocks at the end.

This time, though, the little play on the beach turned into 45 minutes of joy.

It was warm but windy, so he had on long pants and a long sleeved shirt. We climbed on driftwood and played with sticks and rocks for a while, but he just couldn't resist the call of the sea . He kept looking at me pleadingly, saying "peese peese". How could I resist? I rolled up his pants and we headed in for a splash. Hand in hand. The tide had made these cool little pools slightly less than knee deep. Well, he got wetter and wetter. First the soaking wet pants came off. Then the 6 kilo nappy. And boy was he in heaven. And the dogs, not normally water dogs, had a ball frolicking through the waves and the little pools. They are good off the lead, but are normally not content if you stay in one spot too long (unless food is involved). But today they stuck close. Happy to just hang out with us.

Quincy had to share his water with the dogs. And we were all filthy and soaking wet with no towels in the car. Let me just point out that I'm not usually a fan of being unprepared. I have nothing against spontaneity to be sure. I just like being prepared. But today it didn't matter. It was totally stressfree, spontaneous fun. The best kind.

And I didn't even have my camera, but it was still fun!

There were plenty of other less significant but equally memorable moments throughout the day...

Q sharing his "lally" (lion) and "luller" (schnuller, i.e. pacifier) with a disinterested "Beebee" (Berkley) first thing this morning.
Stopping at the Four Square for cous cous and Q repeating "cous cous" throughout the store.
Q finishing the clean up song (Put your toys away. Don't delay. Help your mama have a "happy day".)
Lots of silly sideways looks from the little guy.
A surprise visit from Preeya and his good friend, Amelia, from down the road. Q woke up from a very long post-beach nap and I said to him, "Guess who came to see you and is in the kitchen." He was giddy with anticipation. When he saw Amelia, the looks on both their faces was priceless. He immediately got his Hummer and Yellow Digger and set them at her feet, chatting away while pointing at his new toys. Lots of toddler smiles.
Q's new love of his little "Missy Mouse" soft toy, even though he has no clue who Mickey Mouse is and only knows him from the picture on the back of Little Golden Books. He kept giving him big smiling cuddles and saying "more song" when I would sing M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-"S-E". Mickey Mouse. Donald "Duck". (Pity that's all I know of the song!)
Q learning the word "cheeky" and experimenting with putting it in front of each of our names as well as random pieces of furniture, starting with "cheeky Papa" and ending with "cheeky chair", laughing after each one. He won't say his own name, but when I said "cheeky Quincy," he really cracked up.
The five of us in the playroom after dinner, playing with puppets.