A Red Wagon and Mr. Onions

The other day I determined I was finished with letting cold weather overtake my life and decided that G and I would venture into the subarctic temperatures for a little stroll. You can only stay inside so long, so we bundled up and stepped outdoors. Instead of the stroller, I put G in his off road wagon that Nattie and Poppa gave him for Christmas. I was a little nervous about the wagon because we had only used it in the house, but I figured I was overreacting and just needed to let G be a boy. Soon we were making our way around the block. Thank goodness for peripheral vision because I was constantly having to use it! I needed to look at the road, but I also wanted to make sure G was safe. We were about halfway around the block when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Instinctively, I jumped and clumsily rammed my arm into the wagon handle. My entire body was jerked backwards by the handle, but somehow, my arms caught G just as he was diving head first out of the wagon. My heart was racing. For a few minutes I wouldn't let him go. But because my arm was killing me, and I was having a little bit of difficulty carrying an almost 1 year old and dragging a wagon, I decided to give the wagon ride one more chance. Don't worry...nothing else happened. I plopped G back in the super duper Radio Flyer ATW wagon and walked backwards the entire way home. Ahh, the things you do to make sure your little ones are safe and secure. And since I'm probably going to have a lot of practice walking backwards until Graham learns the concept of danger, I'm thinking about becoming a professional walker backer. It should definitely be an Olympic sport.
Thankfully, most days are a little calmer. We get up and eat breakfast, and we attempt to make it to the gym. I try to avoid getting the elliptical machine that is next to the man who smells like raw onions when he gets good and sweaty. (Trust me, it's bad. Today I even took the elliptical machine with the malfunctioning TV screen just to avoid him. Martha Stewart looked like she was stuck in the middle of a blizzard, and I have no idea what she was making, but at least I was one machine removed from Mr. Onions). We come home. G takes a nap. We eat lunch. We play or run errands. G takes another nap. Sometimes he has a snack. He eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches now! We play some more. Graham puts his hand to his ear and pretends like he is talking on the phone (Obviously, I have a phone addiction. There were two mornings when he pretended like he was on the phone as soon as he saw me walk in his bedroom door. It's like he can't separate the idea of "momma" from the idea of "phone"). We wait for Jeff to come home. Then, Graham really gets to play. Jeff throws G in the air, dangles him by his feet, and blows raspberries on his stomach. We eat dinner and by 8:00 he is usually on his way to bed. Exciting huh? Yawn. I am boring myself just writing this, but I promise you a baby in real life is pretty entertaining. Right before your eyes you watch one of God's people grow physically, intellectually, and hopefully one day spiritually. Right before your eyes you see the hiccups and kicks you could once only feel. You witness the baby that was once inside you playing and laughing and taking on a personality of his own. Maybe I had crazier stories when I was working at Allstate, but I most certainly have a better story developing before me. I'm watching and nurturing a child as he becomes an adult and that, my friend, is quite amazing.