Puddle Jumping

As an adult, I love watching the snow fall. It's beautiful and peaceful, and there's nothing quite like curling up on the couch, snuggling with your children during a storm. We had snow on Saturday, and I was disappointed that, instead of playing in it, we had to trek to the Dr's office. We discovered that Joseph has a sinus infection (I had no idea that a baby could get that) and Stephanie has an ear infection. Joseph got a shot, Stephanie a prescription for an antibiotic, and we headed home to snuggle. On Sunday I managed to take Stephanie out to play in the snow for about 20 minutes, and she had a blast.

When we woke up this morning, the temperature had crept up, and the snow was turning into slushy, messy mush. I wrinkled my nose, and thought "ugh, how gross." But I needed to get out of our apartment after being stuck inside for the better part of a week, thanks to all the sickness . So I bundled us all up, put snow boots on Stephanie and I, and we headed out to do errands.

As soon as we stepped out the door, Stephanie exclaimed over the snow that was still covering the grass. She asked if she could walk in it, but I hurried her right to the car in order to avoid an "I don't want to leave the snow!!!!" tantrum. As we walked, she looked down and said "oooh, mommy, puddles!" She then proceeded to jump and splash all the way to the car. The dirty, slushy snow covered her boots, but she was giggling and happy. I smiled, strapped her in her car-seat, and drove on my way.

We got to our destination, and as soon as I took her out she jumped into more puddles. She hopped and giggled all the way into the store, and when we finished checking out, she said "yay, more puddle time!"

It amazed me that just being allowed to jump in the slushy puddles could make her so happy. Toddlers are amazing creatures, and today reminded me that, even though it might not be as pretty, or seem as fun, days old snow can still bring us joy and laughter.

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