Feelin' the Rocks

Stella and I have been walking a lot lately. Before her nap and before bath time, we head out to the streets and explore the neighborhood. Seeing as she screams with glee every time I ask her if she wants to go out for a walk, I think she enjoys our ritual strolls.

Every time a car, bike or jogger passes, Stella waves enthusiastically. Nobody ever told me how indignant I would feel about those who don't wave back at my baby. I mean, come on. How cute do you have to be to elicit a quick wave? I am, however, pleasantly comforted by how many people do wave (especially burly guys in big trucks). It reminds me that babies (and pregnant bellies) make people smile. They yank us out of our daily grind and remind us how ridiculously cute it is to be a tiny human.

This morning, Stella stopped about a half a block away from our house to point at some pretty lanterns hanging from a neighbor's porch. She was amazed. She then pointed to about every leaf she could find on the sidewalk and grass. And then she moved on to picking up every stick she could find. I must admit that this is when I started to get impatient. Weren't we on this walk to... walk? Weren't we out to get some fresh air and move around? Let's go, Buddy. Let's go.

And that's when another non-earth shattering but oh-so-important revelation hit me - it's important to stop and feel the rocks.

Yup, we didn't smell roses. We felt rocks.

Stella found a fascinating stretch of pebbles and dust in an alleyway and spent about twenty minutes touching each rock and pushing around the dust. She was absolutely and thoroughly content.

All of this reminds me of my favorite scene in the movie Amelie where Amelie dips her hand in the bags of lentils and legumes at the corner food stand just for the delightful sensory experience.

Simply put, rocks and dirt feel good in our fingers. Toddlers know this.

After our twenty minutes of feelin' the rocks, Stella smiled at me, stood up, and started to walk toward home. I couldn't stop laughing. She was done, she knew it and it was time to head home.

I love these daily strolls and eagerly anticipate what Stella will find fascinating tonight.