Discovering my world is so much fun!!!

We have had so much fun watching Grant explore his world this last week since we've been home from Italy. Maybe we just missed him. Maybe he's at a fun stage of life. I don't know. But he's been a joy, that's for sure! Last night we took him to see fireworks in Christiansburg, VA, just down the road from where we live. We took him to a great fireworks display last year, but he was only 2 weeks old and slept through the whole thing. So this year was his first real experience with the colorful lights in the sky that make such loud booms! He did great. At the first few fireworks that went off, he clung rather close to me, but after about 4 or 5, he was really into it. We were rather close to the fireworks, so to see them well, we had to lay down on the ground and look straight up. He laid his head on his daddy's tummy, looked up at the sky and was completely enthralled. He watched the entire display without hardly moving a muscle. Then, during the finale, before anyone else had reacted to it, Grant started clapping his hands with a big smile on his face. He loved it!!! We sure enjoyed watching him experience them. Such a big boy. Today it rained. Not a lot, but enough to fill the uneven part of our driveway with a little bit of water. We were running out to do a few errands, so I put Grant's shoes on (which I feel like I'm constantly doing because he's now figured out how to take them off!!!) and we went outside. We were waiting for Chris to unlock the car, so I put Grant on the ground to let him walk around a bit. He made a bee-line to the puddle and stomped. Well he thought that was something pretty hilarious when the water splashed up his leg. Pretty soon, he was leaning against the car with both hands to keep his balance while jumping up and down with both feet in the puddle, all the while laughing hysterically. Daddy came out and jumped a little bit, too, which made it all the more fun. It was really cute as we were trying to get him to walk away. He was stomping on the sidewalk where there was no water and was so confused as to why it wasn't splashing. He wanted back in that puddle! It's funny - such a little thing like watching a child jump in a puddle...How many puddles have I jumped in in my lifetime? And yet watching my little man discover this part of the world brought me so much joy, so much laughter, so much life. You think when you have a child that you are giving life to your child, when in fact it is the other way around. Grant has brought such life to us in a new way. Watching him discover that puddle was the very favorite part of my day. Such fun. Such innocence. Such perfect childhood. And we're so priveleged to be able to watch him figure it all out.