Egg hunting

We had the best time this morning at the egg hunt. Two years old is absolutely the perfect age for this kind of thing. All the kids went crazy running around finding eggs in the grass and since they are so little we didn't even have to put any effort into hiding them. One mom distracted the kids for 5 minutes while the rest of us threw our booty into the grass. Then we let them loose with their baskets and buckets. Ella has loved all her "Where's Waldo?" type books since she was little so after explaining things to her, she immediately got into the game, shouting out "There it is! There it is! Another! Another! Another!" She was spinning in circles, amazed at her luck to find chocolate eggs litering the ground. I wish I had photos to show you how sweet it was to see all the kids out there hunting. Peeking behind daffodils, stunned to find a shiny foil egg nestled in the grass. We did the egg hunt in the park across the street from the Swedish Institute and it was perfect. They have a little enclosed grassy area dotted with clumps of daffodils. The sun was out, although it was chilly this morning, and so the photo ops were endless... for those people with cameras.

Remember how I said that I needed to buy batteries? Well I remembered. I put them in my camera just before leaving the house and as soon I as we arrived I got it out so that I could adjust all the settings. Only to find that the batteries were flat. I didn't know that you had to charge your rechargeable batteries before using them for the first time. Lesson learned. Luckily, one of the other moms loaned me her batteries for a few minutes so that I could grab a few shots of Ella on my own camera. I dressed her in the jacket, dress and hat that my mom had sent for her birthday and it looked so sweet that I had to get a photo. Actually, the hat is a bit silly, but if you can't wear a silly hat when you are two, you never can. Am I right? And check it out- her Dora Easter bucket matches! Although clearly Ella was less impressed with the bucket than what was inside. She piled that thing as high as she could then she parked herself on the little stairs, to have both hands free for attacking her booty. Although it was partly due to theft (when it comes to candy, toddlers have no morals) that bucket was half empty by the time we left for home.

It was such a total success that I am planning on doing it again with a few friends on Sunday so that the dads can enjoy the fun as well. And this time I will be sure to charge my batteries. Hopefully I'll get a little video next time. As Ella is getting older, I'm suddenly getting much more sensitive about The Passage of Time, making remarks to B about how this is the end of the baby stuff, while I get a bit misty in the eyes. We'll probably never get to (fill in the blank with any silly/annoying/tedious baby activity) again. I've calmed down with the photos but now I am frantically filming her funny little baby games, her incomprehensible baby talk, her silly dance moves. Maybe we are suddenly looking fondly on the baby stuff because she is more independent and we finally have the luxury of time for thinking. Honestly, you are so busy when they are little that you can't think about things. On Sunday, I got up with Ella at 8 and gave her a bottle and then put a video in for her to watch while I went back to bed for a few more minutes. Do you know that she managed to play quietly and happily in her bedroom until 10:30? I could hear her pottering around and so was reassured that she was fine but still couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at the clock. That is just heavenly, being able to stay in bed- together- until 10:30. And she is funny and interactive so a much more enjoyable companion than she used to be. Honestly, there isn't much of a contest in the Toddler vs Infant question. Still, I've made a decision to try and spend a bit more energy in the present and a little less looking whistfully forward (or back) and I suppose that this is the natural outcome. Being very conscious of how wonderful everything is right now and wanting to capture it.