This is, for all intents and purposes, my son’s first real summer. We spent last summer struggling to help him gain weight, including an uncomfortably long hospital admission. Now that he’s doing better we’ve started exploring all of the awesome activities you can do during the summer!

We went on lots of walks! Almost daily in fact, down to the playground or around the neighborhood. Most of the people in our community are passionate about their gardens, so there’s a large variety of flowers and trees to look at. I wish I could give credit to the wonderful gardener that produced the flowers in my featured image, but the only thing I know about them is that they live near me.

On really nice days we’ve been known venture down to the grocery store and pick up a few things. It makes me feel oddly accomplished walking to the grocery store with him. There’s something special about knowing that, if for some reason you didn’t have a car, you could still feed yourself (at least until you ran out of money anyway).

So far we’ve had one pool adventure that included a picnic. It was a wonderful time… for me. You would’ve thought I was torturing the little fella when I stood him up in the kiddy pool. He did warm up to the whole water thing when I sat him in my lap on the stairs to the big pool, but then I was nervous because he’s so darn squirmy and slippery when wet. He did enjoy the picnic, even if the highlight of the event was throwing potato chips on the ground and leaning over to see where they landed… and how many pieces they shattered into… Have I mentioned eating isn’t his thing?

We’ve gone to the playground a couple times. It’s only been a couple because he loves it about as much as he loves the pool. Slide? Terrified. Swing? Terrified. Sat down on the mulch? Well, you get the point. Fortunately, he’s interested in touching things while I’m holding him. At least he interacts with the playground equipment in some small form. I look forward to the day I appreciate the playground being surrounded by a gate. I have a feeling that when he’s more mobile he’ll be a bigger fan of the pool as well.

Lots of adventures going out to get coffee. Mommy needs a little help now and again to get through her day. Now and again might be almost every day, but who’s counting anyway?