Her First Hike

Today, I took Sylvia on her first real hike through the woods. Very special for me, just boring for her, she slept through most of it LOL. It was mostly uphill, so at the farthest point, I sat down to rest for a bit (I am not in top condition anymore I guess :-) That was the only time she woke up, and she wasn't interested in the woods at all, she just wanted to nurse! All the mosquitoes in the woods seemed to want to nurse too, that was annoying!!! I switched to walking and nursing pretty fast, I had too many mosquitoes attacking me while I was sitting down.

I really enjoyed this first post partum hike in the woods. I have done lots of neighborhood walks, but this was our first real hike. I find that hiking through the woods really grounds me, gives me a feeling of calm and peacefulness. A red squirrel was yelling at us from a closeby tree, I heard a thrush singing, a small furry animal ran away from where we were, water was running through a nearby creek, and the wind was rattling the poplar leaves. And here I was, carrying my brand new infant, soaking up all those wonderful nature vibes. How perfect!

Of course, the black flies and mosquitoes did not contribute to the feelings of calmness and peacefulness, but I'll just wipe them from my memory, and only remember the positive aspects of this hike :-)

We went to the beaver pond too, I kind of wanted to present Sylvia to the beaver pond, since she 'almost' was born there :-) It was nice to be there with her, looking forward to when she is old enough to really explore the pond, like my other kids do.

Today was father's day, which made me realize yet again how much I am missing my own dad. He passed away two years ago, so wasn't alive anymore when we conceived Sylvia. I like to think that he must know somehow about her anyway. I like to imagine that he can see us somehow, and see how happy we are with our perfect little girl.