the “nice” weather is finally here in upstate New York.  today, i was able to dress Joshie up in some shorts and a tshirt, and his new “big boy” sandals.  as i watched him strutting around the driveway, i could not believe how tall he looked. a year ago at this time, he was not even crawling!!  and now he’s walking, running, talking… my baby is a little boy for sure.

we went for a big long walk this morning – out to Western Avenue (one of the main drags in Albany) and walked down into the city a bit.  We took a few detours up some side streets to check out the older homes that have been restored – some really nice ones, some really kind of dumpy.  We met a very large black dog, and Josh proceeded to “woof” at that dog for as long as he could see it.  He was hanging over the side of the stroller as we walked away, woofing at that dog for all he was worth!  He’s such a friendly boy.

As we got back to our house, about 3 houses up from us, Josh was walking alongside the stroller, and spied a neighbour lady (whom we haven’t met before) out sweeping up the maple keys from her driveway.  He bopped right on up to her and started up a conversation with her, babbling away and waving his hands around.  As we went to continue on our way home, she asked him if he knew how to blow kisses.  He doesn’t, but as he saw her blow him a kiss, he walked right back up to her, putting his face up to give her a kiss on the cheek.  She broke out into a huge smile and told him that he’d just made her day.  He was so pleased with himself!

It makes me happy that he’s such a friendly and affectionate little guy – but then i got to thinking about all the creeps out there who prey on our precious innocent children.  I know that the day is not far off when i will have to teach him to be much more wary of whom he bestows his sweet kisses on, and that makes me sad.  He is so innocent and happy, and i want him to be able to stay that way for as much of his childhood as possible.  This is where i am so thankful that God watches over all of us, and that although i worry about Josh’s future, the Lord alone knows exactly what it holds for my little boy.