On a really nice day last week I decided to go on a walking adventure with my wife and baby boy, Elijah. Eli doesn’t like sitting in his stroller, mostly because he can’t see the world around him very well, so I wore a chest carrier and he was able to observe everything in front of him. Plus there was a nice cool breeze that he could enjoy, and had he been sitting in his stroller, he wouldn’t have felt the full effects of it. Eli is a little heater and he overheats easily, so Utah spring weather is perfect for him.
Our first destination was the library. Eli was great the whole way there, but shortly after arriving he began to whimper. So we changed him. He continued to whimper. So we tried to feed him. He continued to whimper. So we attempted to rock him to sleep. He continued to whimper. Then he started to holler. Eli is only five months old, but he has a cry that will immediately make all of the women within hearing distance also cry as well as shatter most everybody’s eardrums. And we’re in the library. Needless to say there was only one thing to do: get the boy outside and away from the librarian with his finger to his lips making a “shhhh” sound. Right as we walked outside into the breeze and sunlight, Eli stopped yelling.
Our next destination was the grocery store. I figured I had given Eli enough time to soak in the outside air by the time we arrived there, but man, was I wrong. Two minutes into shopping Eli was already fixing to break every glass item in the store. So away we went outside. Within seconds Eli was calm again.
Elijah started falling asleep as we walked home and I hoped that he would stay that way so my wife and I could enjoy half an hour to ourselves, but as soon as we entered the house Eli was awake and sticking out his lower lip in a pout. I quickly grabbed a foam pad and a blanket and rushed him back outside into our front yard. I placed the pad down, put the blanket on top of it, and then deposited my incorrigible child on his back to stare up at the tree branches. He started to smile and make cooing noises. Then he looked me in the eye and said, “Dad, I don’t ever wanna go back in a building again. I want to live outside forever and ever and ever.” Well, he didn’t actually say that, of course, but that was the look he gave me.
My child already seems to have an affinity for the outside world. He loves a cool breeze on his face, he thoroughly enjoys looking at the different trees and plants all around, and he is completely at peace (as long as he’s not hungry/tired/wet) when he is outside. This could either be a wonderful start to a life of outdoors adventures or the signs of a future run-away child. Only time will tell. I hope it is the former option, as I plan on learning a whole bunch of things about nature as my son discovers the natural world.
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