Sunshine

This March, it only broke 60 degrees six times.  That was the least number of "nice" days in March since 1993.  No wonder we've felt so strange.

Yes, all I do is talk about the weather because when you work at home with a little guy, the weather becomes very, very important--not that it isn't important to other people too, but it has grown more important for me than it had been in the past.

Then April came.  It was a little cool at first, but then over the past few days, it's like we skipped spring and went straight into summer.  90 degrees yesterday?  Whoaz.  Not complaining; just sayin'.  I don't think this super spring heat is here to stay--it looks like it cools down some--but either way, I'm just glad that it isn't 40 degrees.

About a week ago, we started prepping to open the pool.  I told Chris that I thought we should wait because, man, it will be cold for so long and I don't want to have to fight to keep Eliot out any longer than I have to.  It has been good, though--better than I expected.  Eliot was stoked to help fill up our very green pool with more water and clean it up some with the help of my dad. 

After we got it all clear and balanced, Eliot happily sat on the steps to play with his toys.  He loves shooting Chris (and me too...) with the waterguns.  I am glad that he isn't too forceful about jumping right in.  In fact, when Chris put him in, Eliot just shook his head and tried to get out, yelling, "COLD!"  Yes, my son, you have some sense, a good thing.  I know it will be a different story once it is warmer, but that will be fun because we'll actually want to get in with him.  Even though he runs around the pool saying, "walk, walk, walk," he hasn't fallen in.  It's the little things.

We've also gone to the beach a couple of times this month.  Eliot calls it the "big sandbox".  He loves playing in the sand, running at the water, and trying to catch seagulls.  He is going to be even more of a handful at the beach this summer since he is already trying to get carried away by a wave, but that makes it more fun.

When Chris said he wanted to plant flowers the other day, I stared at him blankly.  It's not that I don't like flowers or even planting them, but I've totally lost any motivation for it over the past few years.  Chris and I have tried to plant an awesome garden every year for the past six years that we've been married (in June).  We've even done both spring and fall gardens.  And even started over with a different summer garden because I killed everything we planted from spring.  I try to follow directions, I water them consistently, I try different plants and flowers even, and every year it.does.not.work.  My plants just DIE.  I even almost killed a boxwood bush.  Yeah, a BUSH.

But, you know, we're at a new house that fortunately already came landscaped, so if I just have to try to maintain a few flowerbeds, maybe I can do it.  Our last house had full sun (like, MEGA full sun) out back all day, so perhaps it wasn't me.  Maybe everything gets scorched back there.  And my herbs thrived?  I picked out dahlias for the window boxes and Chris wanted ferns for our hanging baskets.  And I watched Eliot draw with chalk and blow bubbles while Chris did all the work.

Toddlers get messy.  Boys like to dig in dirt.  These are things we all know.  However, I didn't realize how many outfit changes my son would need everyyy day once the weather warmed up.  Sometimes, he gets three baths a day.  In the winter, I had been slacking and bathing him every other day.  The boy loves bubble baths and I'm glad he's having fun.  Plus, it is easier to get him dressed after a bath when the weather is warm--he isn't so balled up and fighting his diaper due to being cold.

I feel like winter finally broke.  I can't imagine Eliot needing to wear a hoodie again (though that isn't to say he won't tomorrow or next week).  And I'm so thankful.