Boy in the Rain

In Oregon, we play in the rain, though I do think Tate is getting a skewed introduction as it hasn't rained as much as I think it ought to for this time of year. He still gets the chance to get sprinkled on once in a while.

His new favorite thing to do outside is shake this gate. It makes a loud rattling noise when he shakes it and that is apparently awesome. The downside is that it is right in the middle of the trash and recycling bins. I don't exactly love him playing there. Fortunately I've been able to distract him from the beer bottles undergrads have left on the ground instead of putting in the recycling bin less than 12 inches away. Argh.

A part of me is anxious for the day we are not in an apartment anymore so that the kids have a fenced back yard (without garbage bins!) and their own rooms (with closets!) but there are some serious perks to living here. Among them is the fact that I do not have to maintain the yard, pull weeds, or install play structures.

He is constantly trying to figure out the world around him. The bolts on the back of this bench warrant close examination every time we venture out. He can stand there doubled over for quite a while without getting disinterested, or dizzy for that matter.

I don't know what's up with kids. I'm still trying to figure out why it's okay to eat rocks, but {insert healthy vegetables here} are not. Why is it okay to be rained on, but having their hair washed brings screams of untold comparison?

By this point he had crawled through puddles and his pants were soaked. He had started to whimper, but once something catches his attention all that is forgotten. I'm just grateful he didn't get completely covered in mud, although that would have been adorable and I would have taken about 72,000 pictures of it, so maybe I actually wish he had been covered in mud.

When we headed out, it was not raining yet and my only goal was to get a good head shot to print in black and white. I took a cute hat (of mine) thinking it would make a fun prop but he wanted none of that. It was on his head for a whopping 0.0000036472 seconds before he ripped it off and threw it straight on the ground. Somehow this picture ended up in focus and though it isn't what I wanted, it is so stinkin cute. Getting pictures of this kid that match my imagination has gotten significantly harder. Good thing I love candids.