Getting Warmer.. Warmer.. Cold

By about two o'clock this afternoon, Mason had only napped a total of fifteen minutes... and those weren't even consecutive minutes. I'm guessing his tooth was hurting him again, or maybe he just didn't feel like sleeping. In any case, he was grumpy and exhausted and he just wouldn't give himself a break.

Luckily, it was beautiful out all day. I'm pretty sure that in warmer states when the temperature drops to fifty degrees, people bundle up in winter coats and boots and stock up on bottled water and canned veggies, preparing for the worst. But in Pennsylvania, fifty degrees in February is a heat wave, so we throw on our hoodies and go play outside. At least, that's what Mase and I did.

We took a walk - the kind of walk we took every night without fail in the summer and fall until it got too cold. The kind of slow, lazy walk you take when you have nowhere to go and nothing important to be doing. Mason didn't sleep, as I'd hoped he would, because he was too busy gazing around, taking everything in. I narrated, just like I used to, and I wondered if he remembered the familiar path we took all those nights, when he was so tiny. It sure seemed like he remembered.

When we got home, about forty-five minutes later, I sat Mason down for some lunch and he was a new little giggly, smiling man. It could have been the fresh air. It could have been the chirping birds. It could have simply been the relief in breaking up the winter monotony of the living room. Whatever it was, something about that walk cheered Mase right up..

for awhile.