Felled in Mud

In the last post I reported Cole’s remark that he knew where he was. “I’m here,” he told me. And, he’s right. He is present, in the moment, at all times. The really little kids are, essentially pre-historic. Very little past and no thought of the future. They should be putting on the personal growth, be-in-the-moment workshops. You can learn much from observing them. However, I have no inclination to be philosophical. This blog is dedicated to observation and short on deep thoughts.
Today our outing was to Lithia Park and all went well until little Kenneth, high on ducks, slipped and rolled into a puddle of composting muck.
We had made our way to the Upper Duck Pond after stopping next to Ashland Creek for a lovely snack of Cliff Bar and cantaloupe. We sat on the edge of the creek and looked for fishies but that got boring when we didn’t see any. At the Duck Pond a large flock of ducks were on the lawn above the pond led by a huge white goose who, as we approached, tried to take a bite out of another three year old who was feeding him grain. This dampened our ardor for duck watching a bit but we circled the flock and studied them without being attacked. (This was a day for birding as on our morning walk we saw a wild scrub jay land on the hand of a lady who was offering it peanuts and she invited us all to come watch but the bird would not return.) So, now this vicious goose was screwing up the party.
We adjourned to the big lawn which runs from the old mulberry tree to the tennis courts and I had the idea to run some more races to frazzle the boys a bit. They are pretty game when it comes to racing and did several hundred yard dashes with Cole winning them all until Kenneth saw the two mallards and veered off to chase them a bit. It is hard to relate how funny this was.  However, it was sort of like watching three ducks. Kenneth, or ‘Keth’ as Cole calls him, runs like a duck and at nearly the same speed and when they quack he quacks too. Watching this scene brings you right into the moment and if Cole had asked me if I knew where I was I would have been able to honestly say, “I’m right here.”
Cole who shows the makings of a weatherman suggested that a storm was coming. We decided he was right and began to head towards the car. The boys were literally running in circles and we were having trouble getting them herded. That’s when I suggested taking a diversion through the “jungle” which is narrow paved walk that helps encircle Lithia Park’s giant rhodies. It was at that moment we noticed that Keth was walking even more like a duck and discovered that his diaper had slipped completely off his little ass and was wadded deep down in the liner. “No wonder you lost all those races,” I told him.
We decide to make the diaper change right there on the path on a little terry cloth blanket that Kirsten provides in her outing kit. Both boys were within arm’s length. But just off the walk was a little sump of rotting leaves and rhody blossoms. As we were rooting around in the jogger for the diaper Keth stepped back, slipped, lost his balance and fell hard on his back in the soft, black, stinky puddle making an oozing splash. I grabbed his arm and lifted him out but he was black as a tar baby on his backside from head to tiny toes and screaming like a banshee in his outrage. The rest of us were trying not to laugh as Linda and I stripped him naked, diapered him standing and strapped him into the jogger. He hugged a pillow for warmth and modesty and we made it back to the car with a muddy baby and a pile of slimy clothes.
Another good day.
Kenneth’s journal entry: “I felled in mud.”
One accident; no injuries; minimal crying.