Along for the Ride

Since we arrived back from our Thanksgiving away, we've had quite a bit of snow here in Michigan. Now, I really do think that it's snowing abnormally early this year - and I'm not sure I'm so excited about it. Addison, on the other hand, is SUPER excited about the "NO". That would be Addison's version of snow - silent 's' and no 'w'... not to be confused with "NO" which is Addison for "nose" even though in her world both the facial feature and the precipitation cause her to say "no" and point to her nose. Go figure. AND of course there is also "NO" meaning, 'no way' - no way am I going to eat that, no way are you going to change my diaper, no way am I going inside and no way am I taking my boots/hat/gloves off. This girl really loves the snow!

Last Sunday, we all loaded up in the car with a couple sleds and headed off to Wilcox Park to do a little sledding. The hill is small and perfect for an 17 month old and sufficient for our dog - who thinks chasing us down the hill is about as good as going for a swim in the lake. I expected we'd be there for a half hours or so and that Addison would have her fill after a few rides and want to go home. Nope, a good hour of sledding and she was still appalled when we took her out of the sled to head home.

Now that the cold and snow has taken over the outdoors. It is simply unappealing at best for me to muster up the ambition to get out there and do anything. The fact that Addison loves being out there helps matters, but I think I still fall short of her expectations. For example, yesterday, Addison insisted on wearing her hat and mittens for a good 2 hours in the middle of the afternoon. I'm certain she would have tried to put her boots on as well if she had been able to find them. It was definitely more than a strong hint that she wanted to go outside and play. I wasn't going for it though, so then she rummaged through my pots, pans and bowls...got out the largest one and tried to climb into it. Dan thinks she was trying to tell me she wanted to go sledding, but I think it's just a phase she's in since she tries to climb into everything: her toy box, her little lunchbox, my oven drawer, the laundry baskets. Whatever it is, she makes a good case for getting me outdoors.