Finding Your Wings.

I spent the summer following Gabriel's birth in a dizzying dance of fierce emotion, sleepless nights, and green tree branches. We seemed to spend most of our time outside, laying quietly on the hammock beneath our towering oak tree. Between bird calls and nursing, we gently dozed under the lacework of leaves we've both come to know very well.
This is our second spring together, one that is full of squeaks of excitement when an airplane or bird flies overhead. The airport in Denver changed their flightpath sometime last year, and we've had the thrilling new chance to watch as airplanes make their way to the landing strip some 20 miles East. There's also a smaller airport less than five miles Northwest of our home. During busy times of the day (which seem to land near mealtimes), we can lay and watch as airplanea make their way overhead every three minutes or so.
Our backyard skies are also full of feathered friends this time of year. A startling pair of Bluejays, Northern Flickers, a number of Mourning Doves, common brown Sparrows, and the occasional, and most beautiful, tiny, orange-throated finches all keep our yard teeming with movement and music.

There's also a small creature who's learning how to fly alongside the wobbly spring birds... though don't let him hear you call him wobbly.

The Arrival of an Old Friend.

Over the last few weeks, Gabriel and I have been so happily busy enjoying the new Spring air outdoors. Bubbles have been dug out of hiding, rocking horses dusted off, miniature adirondack chairs purchased and broken in... It's that magnificent time of year again. The buds on the branches are so hearty and new, the bees are waking up and slowly buzzing about, and the flowers are beginning to stretch out and shaking off a long sleep. The most magical part: This year, I have somebody to truly share it with.

There is something so enchanting about being able to show a young child his first bumblebee, hailstorm, or garden slug, and to watch him again and again as he returns and looks to discover himself. Gabriel is at such a fascinating age; He isn't quite able to talk, but happily answers all animal calls; He can't yet climb trees, but gives them kisses and runs around them in circles; He notices distant dog barks, airplanes flying overhead, and shifting wind before I do. He's beginning to recognize and point out letters of the alphabet, can follow a drum beat through a song, and gives his toys reassuring kisses after they fall to the ground.

It's incredible to watch as Gabriel comes into bloom with the world doing the same all around him.