Weekend Walks (aka photo dump)

Every time we go outside, Noah is content to run around in the driveway for about 10 minutes.

He then walks to the edge of the driveway, right before you get to the road, and stops.

Every time, I firmly say, "Noah. No, sir."

And every time, he turns around to face me, lifts his arm up in my direction, and waits for me to come grab his hand. Because he knows. It has been burned into that cute little noggin' of his that he is most definitely not allowed to leave our driveway/yard without holding someone's hand.

But once we reach the other side of the road?

Pure toddler bliss.

He runs up and down the sidewalk.

In this case, yesterday, he was carrying around a chip to snack on at the same time.

He'd run a little ways. Stop. Take a bite. Then carry on.

A few months ago, he started this thing where if a car is coming, he grabs hold of my leg until they pass.

I was so excited and immediately praised him for being such a good boy.

Positive reinforcement, y'all. It's a wondrous thing.

Because now?

Every.single.time a car comes along, he rushes to my side. He could be 10-15 ft in front of me, but if a car or motorcycle or anything motorized comes our way (it could be waaayyy at the other end of the street), he stops what he's doing and runs back to me.

It's the cutest thing, and a habit I'm really happy about.

He loves to get to the top of this hill and see how far he's gone.

And once he realizes how far he's gone, he suddenly gets tired and needs to take a rest.

So that's what we do. We park ourselves on the sidewalk and wait for his legs to work again.

This time, he decided he wanted to explore a different side street.

Apparently, they have cool rocks.

And this particular street also happens to have a cat.

A very friendly cat.

I need to make a confession, I think.

I haven't always been a dog person.

*gasp* I know.

I always thought most dogs were slightly... dare I say it?... irritating.

The big ones were... well, big (and usually involved a lot of drool). And the little ones were all yappy. Dogs were smelly and dirty and needy. And they were usually most needy when they were covered in water or mud or some other God-forsaken substance. Don't get me wrong; I definitely thought they were cute, especially the puppies. We had a Great Dane, and while he was really cool and fun, he was still big and slobbered on every nice outfit I had. It was like running away from a horse with its tongue hanging out every time I had to go to class/work.

He was really cute and I loved him dearly, but I still preferred cats. They sit quietly and purr. They're not needy, but they love affection. They don't usually smell, drool, or meow at all hours of the night (except when our cat could see the bottom of her food bowl. this always happened in the middle of the night, and she would scratch on everyone's doors until someone got up to fix the problem).

Then our pups were born, and I realized why people fall in love with their dogs.

I still think dogs smell and drool and can, at times, be gross. But they're totally loveable.

And my Dodger can do no wrong.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

I've wanted a cat ever since Brad and I got married. I missed my cats back at my parents', but Brad says "no way". We weren't sure how a cat would handle a baby anyway. All it'd take is for 6-month-old Noah to pull its tail, and if it scratched him? It'd be a dead cat.

However, I don't think that's a concern anymore.

This kitty was so incredibly sweet, and Noah was very gentle. No pulling or hitting. He just sat and giggled every time it swished its tail across the back of his neck.

Obviously, Kitty lives with a family that has kids, because it was definitely not skittish around Noah at all.

Most cats that see a toddler running near them? They dart off.

Kitty was totally cool with him

Invariably, Noah always decides his legs don't work about 2 blocks away from the house. And if I forgot to grab his wagon before we left? Guess who gets to carry him! ALL THIRTY-SEVEN POUNDS OF HIM.

My arms don't even notice the weight anymore.

However, it never fails.

Cats know how to tell you they want you to stay...

Try lugging a massive two-year-old with a cat running in between your legs.

It's not easy.

Kitty followed us for awhile, but finally gave up after a couple of streets over. It's probably a good thing. He would've been awfully surprised at what was waiting for him in our yard.

Happy Labor Day!