Delightful

This afternoon was absolutely delightful.  I have been working most of this week for a teacher that is away on a sailing trip with the school.  I have to admit, I really enjoyed having a consistent classroom, planning lessons, watching students get it...everything except the marking.  There will never be a day that I don't dread marking.  Ah, such is the life of a teacher!  This busy week meant Rusty was in daycare every day except Wednesday.

I thought this would adversely affect us, but it seems to have had the opposite effect.  Every day when I have seen him after work he has been in a really chipper mood, and not seeing him all day has me aching to wrap my arms around him and wait for the moment when he presents his little cheek to me for that kiss!  Kiss, kiss, we say, and smooch.  Sometimes he puts his little forehead against mine and puts both hands on either side of my face and just squeezes.  Oh how I love that!

Today was just such a day.  I picked him up from Auntie's house, and we weren't ready to be done playing yet.  It was absolutely gorgeous outside, one of those days that has a hint of summer in the air, so Auntie and I loaded up our boys and took a walk to the park.  The boys played and played.  Up and down the stairs and slide, over and over.  They were so excited to fly down that slide that they kept bumping into each other at the bottom of it, pushing one another on their bums into the bark mulch at the bottom.  They ran in glee, to the swings and back, off of the ledge, through the grass.  Finally, Auntie was ready for home and dinner with her boys.

Rusty and I needed a little more outside time, so we were off to the major park in town.  Rusty loves it there.  He loves to run and run, and I think it's great because it is fenced in.  I don't have to worry about him getting into traffic and he can run from soccer field to soccer field.  Today I realized that he knows the word "PARK!" as he yelled it when we drove into the parking lot.  He was excited!  This park is the park where we have seen Kevin play soccer though, so he thought he would see his daddy there.  No such luck, his daddy was working tonight.  That didn't stop Rusty from looking though!  "Dada?  Dada?" he called as we wandered through the fields.

As we climbed the stadium it was "Up, up, up, up" and on the way back down the stairs it was "Down, down, down, down."  The new expansion of his vocabulary has been so much fun!  He even says "towel" now!  I had no idea that he even knew that word.  Rusty ran all over and found the playground and I felt a happy mommy moment when he chose NOT to throw the bark mulch all over the ramp that the kids run up and down.  Last time we went to that park we had to leave because he was doing that and I had warned him and he wasn't listening.  After just two minutes of playing that day, I had to take him home which was not fun.  Today I was so happy when he didn't do it.  He picked it up and I said, "Rusty, if you throw that we will have to go home again...do you want to go home?"

"NO!"  he shouted.  He walked off with the bark in his hand, looked at me, and then dropped it.  Hurray!  Next time he may choose to throw it, but we were having so much fun today that I was glad he didn't force me to take him home.  Finally it was 6 p.m., I was exhausted, and we were both hungry.  The fun night needed to continue!

We were off to the mall for my favorite fast food-Arby's!  I love their roast beef sandwiches.  Rusty and I shared some curly fries and he had a junior roast beef.  He was so adorable!  They had hockey on tv in the mall food court and he kept looking at the tv and shouting "GO! Puckkk, Stick!"  It was too cute for me to handle!  He would stop for a mouthful of sandwich, chew it up, and then yell again.  The boy loves the playoffs as much as his dad, it seems.

One of my favorite parts of the day?  The end of day snuggles.  Rusty has started to enjoy some mommy snuggles at the end of the day.  He points to the chair in his room and we sit there in the dark.  He will lie down in my arms and hold my head to his in a hug, as I rub his back.  It is the sweetest time of the day, and I find I simply can't deny him when he asks.  It's a chance to remember the sweet baby that he once was, all wrapped up in the rambunctious, funny, and loving boy that he now is!

Ah, life is good...I enjoyed my Friday night date night with my little man!

And, simply because I did not have the good fortune of having my camera today, I will have to share a picture from this past Sunday at our favorite seaside park.  Daddy and Rusty, enjoying a little crab hunting and hide and seek!

Oh isn't he just the epitome of delightful?