buds on bushes

We have been spending a lot of time outside during the past two days as the weather has been BEAUTIFUL here in crazytown. I am loving it. Cam is loving it. The winter was way too long and snowy for us.

I have been showing him the signs of spring all around. The daffodils and hyacinths that I planted last year are shooting up in the beds and I let Cam take a swipe at them to feel the leaves on his fingers. We listened to the birds and watched the squirrels run all around. We enjoyed the sun on our faces and the quiet of our neighborhood in the early afternoon. We explored the trees and bushes looking at the buds starting to appear. It was funny to watch Cam reach out and try to touch them. We stopped to get a closer look at one of the bushes by our front door and hang out in the sun. The branches on this bush are tiny so he was really focusing on them. He would reach out his fingers and just gently pinch at them. Surprisingly enough he didn't do his usual grab handful and insert into mouth. He just kept reaching out and touching the branches with his finger tips, as if he knew they were something delicate. It was so sweet and so unlike my normally thrashing, screaming, howling little guy... And all the while he was making these little chirping noises, talking away to himself or the bush and occasionally looking back at me and smiling. Totally content and relaxed, clearly enjoying himself. Who knew shrubs were so interesting! Well interesting until he saw our reflection in the glass of the front door...

This afternoon we were coming home from the store and walking by the bush. I saw that as we passed he was reaching out his little foot from his carrier and letting his toes touch it. When I looked down at him, he was grinning like crazy... As if to let me know that was his bush-and he didn't forget about it. Could he get any cuter????