Spring is here

The best part of living in the South is short time of year when the seasons change from winter to spring. Over the course of a couple of days the grass turns green, trees start to bloom and the temperature hits the mid-70s. It is almost impossible to stay inside and this is when I really enjoy my job. I spend several hours a day outside shooting baseball games, construction projects and finding complete strangers who are also enjoying the perfect South Carolina weather.

But in the past week I've come to find a new thing to celebrate in the spring time: the back yard.

First, let me give a short history lesson about the yard we inherited when we bought this house. Half of the backyard was poison ivy. Over the last few years we have fought it back and planted grass. It's not a perfect patch of green heaven but it's closer than I ever thought it would be. I cut the grass for the first time over the weekend and it looks great.

Leah likes it too. So far this week it has been nearly impossible to get her inside after she gets home from school. Somewhere in that little walk from the driveway to the backdoor she realizes how perfect the evening is and refuses to go inside.

Who are we to argue?

We just had our second dinner in the backyard this season. The grill is always ready to roll and happy hour is quickly becoming a tradition for us. I've thought about how we dealt with these first magical days of spring last year and realized that it's not too far off from this year. Leah wasn't mobile yet so Darcey and I would put her in the little sun tent we have and enjoyed happy hour together.

What's funny is that this is the first time I can point to where our plan for children has actually come to fruition. You see, we always said that we wanted the baby to join our life and not change it. Leah's absolute refusal to go inside in the evening makes me realize that she is truly her mother's daughter and I can see us spending so much time outdoors this spring and summer. It's so much fun too. We walk around the yard and talk about the plants. We play fetch with Daisy and hunt down the ball ourselves when she refuses to run after them. We go down the slide and twirl circles in the light of the setting sun.

I look forward to the evenings more and more each day. Darcey does too. She is considering taking the summer off from school so she can play with Leah everyday. I'm jealous of the thought since my work schedule will change soon and I will miss these wonderful moments.

I guess I will simply tighten my grip on those that I'm lucky enough to be a part of.

Enjoy the video.

-Sefton

Going Potty

It has begun.

We bought Leah a *potty* last week because she has shown interest in our using the bathroom. It has been a bit of a challenge when she wonders in while I'm in there because I have to kind of fend her off with one hand so she doesn't reach into the stream.

If that all works out, we wave goodbye to the *tinkle* as the toilet is flushed.

*Tinkle*. That's the word we've settled on. It's strange using words like that because we don't want to use baby words with Leah but none of the alternatives seem like very good options. *Potty* is the other new word in our vocabulary and it is starting to grow on me.

We have noticed for a while that Leah will *tinkle* as we draw her a bath. I'm sure it's the running water that is making her go and I find it interesting that the human reaction to urinate from the noise could be biological instead of learned. Anyway, Darcey and I thought the best time to start *potty* training would be just before we put her in the bath. We get her undressed, turn the water on, and ask if she needs to go *potty*. She already understands the concept and sits down on her own. We let her stay there for a while but there is yet to be any *tinkle* in the *potty* before we put her in the bath.

There is however *tinkle* in the bath after the *potty*.

-Sefton