“A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2016.”
Puddle jumping at the beach with his friend Merlin: about as close to pure joy as it gets.
Linking up with Jodi at Practising Simplicity for The 52 Project.
27/52
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Tag Archives: puddles
6/52
“A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2016.”
We had a fantastic expedition up to Berry Head today. Having ventured out as little as possible yesterday, battening down the hatches whilst the wind and rain howled around the house, we were invigorated by the sight of blue sky over breakfast.
Of course by the time we had got ourselves together to leave the sunshine had turned to drizzle, and by the time we were heading up into the woods Arthur was in the middle of his first hail storm.
Undeterred, we squelched up the steps to flat(ish) ground, and he sped off on his balance bike in search of puddles. And boy did he find some.
By the time I took this photo, his wellies were full of muddy water, his trousers were soaked through to the skin, and his little hands were like ice blocks.
He, of course, was utterly delighted with himself.
Linking up with Jodi at Practising Simplicity for The 52 Project.
Jump and splash
Whenever we’ve left the house this week, Arthur has been a boy on a mission. As well as the ongoing desire to throw whatever he can get his hands on, especially if there’s water involved, he has been on the lookout for puddles – because by jumping in himself he can make an even bigger splash! 
Fortunately all the rain we’ve had recently has left plenty of puddles for him to play with. We wrapped up warm on Monday to catch the last of the daylight when the sun finally came out, and we’re rewarded by a beautiful rainbow over the bay. Our initial plan had been just to kick a ball about, but we couldn’t resist the temptation to wander down to the pool, our heads full of dreams of summer. 
Naturally a swim was out of the question (though Arthur did ask), but as we meandered along the poolside we found the biggest puddle ever and he contented himself with jumping and splashing until he was thoroughly soaked. 
There were plenty more opportunities to get out and about as the week progressed. Arthur’s oddmother came to visit, and he had a brilliant time showing her all his favourite stone-throwing and puddle-jumping spots. 
In fact we were convinced at one point that we were going to have to spend the night up at Berry Head after he found a particularly satisfying muddy puddle and spent a good half an hour filling it with gravel and jumping and splashing to his heart’s content. 
There is nothing like a toddler to put a positive spin on rubbish weather. Though I’m still dreaming of the day when the jumping and splashing we’re doing will be in the pool itself…
My word of the week this week is puddles.
Blustery Berry Head
The weather here on Saturday was decidedly Devonian: gorgeous clear blue skies one second, wind, rain and white horses the next. And repeat. I kept being about to take Arthur out for a walk when the clouds would roll in and it suddenly didn’t seem all that attractive. Come mid-afternoon I decided we should venture out anyway – if nothing else it was a great excuse to get Arthur kitted out in his very cute rain gear.
The photo above was taken soon after I released Arthur from the sling (the first bit of the walk to Berry Head is a bit challenging for a newly toddling baby) and captures the moment when he met his very first puddle! I’d forgotten from my boring grown-up perspective that the rain brought with it these little marvels of splashes and reflection, but he was absolutely transfixed.
We decided it was time to move on when Arthur was about to get down on his hands and knees for a closer examination of this new phenomenon, and he was soon distracted by the abundance of dogs dragging their owners out for an afternoon stroll. He’s obsessed with dogs at the moment, and is going round woofing at everything. They were remarkably tolerant of it, considering.
After a few more puddles…
…and a fair amount of toppling over as his enthusiasm got the better of his balance (note to self: wellies do not the most stable toddling footwear make), the wind and rain rolled in again and we made a break for home.
We hadn’t needed to be out long for Arthur to enjoy his adventure, and it had no doubt done us good too to get some fresh air and blow away the cobwebs.
It was brilliant to see him enjoying being outdoors so much, even if the weather wasn’t perfect. Now all I need is to get myself a matching rain suit and we’ll be sorted!
Sophie is... 