It's February 11th today, and while most of our friends and family have been buried under inches upon inches of snow amidst a polar vortex for over a month now, we have had the joy of a winter in France. It as been a beautiful winter, with mild weather, a lot of sunny days, and only a handful of days below freezing. With the addition of your brother and being at home most days, it has been such a blessing to be able to take our daily walks and get out some bottled up energy in the beauty that surrounds us here in the Alps. You love being outside exploring the world around you, and I love watching you find new things on each and every walk and the happiness that oozes out of you!
The ranch down the road is our favorite place to visit, and the horses are your favorite friends along with the chickens that we pass on the way. The little creek that follows the road is full of bull frogs, muskrats, beavers, and other exciting things for you to discover. There are almost always puddles to jump in, rocks to be thrown, sticks to go poking around with, and horses to be fed. You have no fear when it comes to the horses, and I am always astounded by your fearlessness with big beauties. In one of the pastures there is a particularly mean brown horse that bullies the others when we bring carrots and apples for them to eat. He is constantly nipping at the others, headbutting, and throwing hooves their way. You always make sure to yell at him, and let everyone know that he is "MEAN!!"
Our walks are filled with Zaylee conversations, and I can never get enough of your stories. They go something like this, "Walk. Mamie. Orsie (horse). Chinens (chickens). Mean!! Bite. Papi. Yah Yah. Rock. Wayer (water). Jyump (jump). Anna. Fog (frog)." You remember EVERYTHING and love to relive your walks through your every growing vocabulary to tell and retell your stories to whomever will listen. It is my favorite thing to listen to you and watch your very expressive, entertaining facial expression and hand gestures that bring the stories to life.
Marcel is a lover of walks as well, and is usually tucked in close to me in the carrier. This week we started putting him in the stroller, and he seems to enjoy looking around and feeling the fresh air on his cheeks. You liked the fact that my arms were free to pick you up when you were tired or heard a car coming. "Vroom! Vroom! Hold you. Hold you," is what you say as you stretch your arms up high for me to pick you up. You are so cautious when a car is coming and immediately run to the side of the road and stop while you watch it pass us by.
I am so thankful for our time together outside, and can't wait for you to have Marcel to explore with. For now, I will enjoy having him close to me or staring up at me from the stroller while watching you run free exploring.
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