Green Trolley!

Singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" ("Happy Know It") with Daddy while waiting at the trolley stop in Gypsy Hill Park, just minutes from our house

There are many days in my journey of motherhood when I am simply overwhelmed with gratitude for this little life that is ours to care for. Simply overwhelmed. And these moments are far from spectacular, at least to unknowing observers...observers who aren't aware of what we went through to conceive this sweet child, observers whose hearts aren't enlivened by witnessing the delights big and small that come from walking intimately with a wee one, observers who have long ago become lost in the hurries and demands of our fast-paced world and have literally ceased stopping to "smell the roses" or to shriek at the arrival of Lady Rebecca, one of our green Staunton trolleys.

I am overwhelmed when I see Susannah "walk myself" the long, hilly block from our house to the park trolley stop, where she must then wait for 20 minutes, all the while looking with anticipation for the "green trolley, green trolley, green trolley!" She sees it driving around town when we are out running errands, but she hasn't ridden it since last summer; therefore, she has been awaiting her green trolley ride far longer than the 20 minutes she patiently stood singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" with Daddy and watching park joggers pass briskly by, intermittently reminding her impatient parents, "Wait, wait green trolley." Nary a peep of discontent was heard from this little one who so easily occupies herself with observations and conversation that she obviously has no need to rush things.

While we were waiting, we had the wonderful surprise of an airplane passing by! It was rather low-flying, which was conducive to intensely focused tracking of it through the clear blue sky. She notices every sound around her, and pursues its source until she finds it...at which point she studies it for as long as possible before commenting. She simply cannot be interrupted from "downloading" even a drop of new information.

How willingly she sat on the trolley stop bench after about 15 minutes of dancing and singing while waiting. She still looked toward the direction from which we promised the trolley would come!

Upon seeing our anticipated source of transit, she was ELATED: "See it green trolley! Ride green trolley! Zannah, Mommy, Daddy ride green trolley!"

Susannah has a consistently subdued way of enjoying her world and new experiences. Though she smiles quite a bit, this is not usually her first response. She's much more apt to sit and watch, to listen and wait, to absorb before responding. It's usually slightly later (or sometimes much later) that we hear conversant reflections on her special moments savored.

Our little family of three walked Downtown Staunton on a brisk but glorious day, running a few errands in two stores but mostly just walking for the sake of walking and soaking up the sun's warm rays. How glad we are that the snow is majorly melted! Our fiercely independent Strawberry was not at all interested in riding in her stroller, especially when all kinds of new things awaited her on the sidewalk: circles and ovals made from discarded dried-up chewing gum, remnants of rock salt still whitening the red brick paths, shiny bottlecaps that reflected the sun's rays. We peered into store windows to see pastel Easter decorations, billows of ribbon and spring flowers at the local florist, and signs advertising upcoming musical and theatrical performances around Staunton. At one point, a firetruck drove past us on East Beverly Street and it got a red light...which meant we had the blessing of observing its hoses and gauges and shiny chrome equipment for a few minutes! You should've seen our sweet pea pointing, running, and yelling, "Fyuh twuck! FY-UH...TWUCK!"

We stopped at Mommy's favorite downtown cafe, The Pampered Palate, for sandwiches, chips, and fruit, killing our wait time by admiring the watercolor artwork on the walls, all done by an immensely talented local artist. Susannah and Mommy walked from painting to painting discussing the names of the flowers depicted--white calla lillies, red poppies, pink peonies, bluebells--just before Susannah noticed the painting of parrots. She let out enthusiastic parrot "squawks" for all to hear just as our food arrived! During our meal, she looked at us and said/signed, "Tired," which made us both chuckle, as our little one is soooooooo aware of her body's needs and labels them readily: hungry, tired, sad, sick, hurt, happy. Despite being tired, she sat contently throughout the meal and ate well...especially the cantaloupe and chips! Daddy bought a pack of Walker's Shortbread on our way out of the cafe, and this made the perfect snack for us as we waited for the green trolley to come and take us back to the stop at the park.

Sharing shortbread with Daddy before running up and down the sidewalk and commencing a game of "Peek-A-Boo" around the corner!

Still eating shortbread and awaiting the green trolley's arrival...

...but not without tickles and laughter!

On the ride home, our self-declared "tired Zannah" laid limply by my side as I stroked her cheek and talked about the fun experiences we had just had downtown. Back at home, our tired one warmed my heart once again as she gathered Elmo, paci, Silky, Piggy, and since these plus our 23-pound girl were scarcely enough to fill my arms as we rocked before naptime, she threw in a clothes hanger and Rylie's harness, as well. (I did manage to get the latter two potentially-hazardous objects away from her by assuring her we'd play with them after her night-night time. She relinquished them, though not without a few tears of disappointment.)

We rocked and snuggled as we thanked God for the green trolley...for downtown walks on pretty days...for sandwiches and chips and cookies...and most of all for each other. And my heart threatened to explode when I asked her if she was ready to go into her crib, to which she responded shortly thereafter in a gentle, exhausted voice, "OK, Mommy." Then she sweetly but insistently reminded me of her desire for the harness before snuggling under her blankets and closing her eyes.