As I said before, Adventure Day took a back seat to the crazy, busy fall season so I was really excited to get back to it last week. Unfortunately, tiny man has a sinus infection. He woke up Friday morning in a major grouchy mood so, once again, life got in the way of adventuring plans. I was bummed we weren’t going to be able to get out and explore and I was sad to see my tiny dude not feeling good. To be honest, though, I really wasn’t feeling great myself. That’s one of the “perks” of being home with a toddler all the time; he shares everything with you, even germs!
I figured it would just be another lazy day of PJs and movies. Then, I walked through the kitchen to get some more coffee and I noticed this amazing patch of sunlight pouring in, perfectly highlighting Waffles, sitting on the counter.
{I guess I should explain that Waffles is our “Elf on the Shelf.” She’s been visiting us each Christmastime since 2012. She was named by a then 2 y/o, Tucker.}
Anyway, back to that magical light I found. I saw her sitting there in that light and an idea struck me! “Let’s chase the light!” I went and grabbed tiny man and sat him next to Waffles in the golden glow.
We talked about the shadows and we talked about how sparkly the dust was in the light. I told him that our adventure today was going to be to chase the light around the house. We would wait for the sun to move and see how the light and shadows changed. He was a little bit annoyed at my plan at first because I kept interrupting his movie, but eventually he started to play along. He would look up from his movie for a minute and say “the light!”
I was happy to see him smile a bit. In the late morning we spotted this amazing patch of light along the stairs and we went running up to play in it. This running piqued the interest of our pup, Oliver, who now wanted to participate, as well. I decided I wanted to jump in the frame for a couple and I guess my excitement was too much for Olly. He jumped right on top of me, completely unexpected and I screamed out of surprise. I looked over and saw tiny man cracking up. He was uncontrollably laughing at my surprise shriek and started mocking me. So, we had to take a picture of our screaming and head shaking. Anything to see my sick boy giggle!
This was fun. Such a simple activity, but it became a special experience. The photographer in me was excited that he was noticing light and shadows and my mama side was happy he seemed to be feeling a little better.
He cracks me up the way he “models.” J. Crew, GQ, watch out! Tiny man has that angsty-smolder thing down! I mean, he makes sitting on a table, eating an apple look GOOD! Haha!
We were heading upstairs for nap time when I noticed Oliver laying in the early afternoon sun. So, one last light chasing adventure before bed. Of course, it was just a bunch of puppy kisses.
I guess if there’s anything I’ve learned from being a mom of three is that nothing ever goes as planned, but Adventure Day with a twist was exactly what we both needed.
Courtney MaCaire 