The Coy Pond

I just learned my 3-year-old point and shoot camera has video capabilities. Not the highest quality to be sure, but… good enough!! :)

Beware this and future posts in which I will post videos of Jarrod doing very normal stuff, just because I can. Because he completely cracks me up all the time. Please excuse my PJs. Yes, they are the flannel teddy bear pair I mentioned a couple months ago. I haven’t posted anything about them because I need to remake them in a smaller size first. (Hard to believe, I overestimated my size?!)

Anyway, behold Jarrod, playing with toys, then noticing me!

Well since the park is only 5 minutes from home, why wouldn’t I go take some photos on a late winter afternoon, when nature deficit disorder is calling me. The light was pretty dark on this afternoon and my lenses weren’t fast enough most of the time, but it was still a lot of fun.

But I heard all sorts of great stories on the trail. One man told me that he had seen a juvenile bald eagle earlier in the week. Another family told me that they had been in the nature center and there was a photo there of an albatross lifting a fish out of the lake, with a bald eagle below him, about to steal his fish. I did not pick the right moment to see the bald eagle, but I was looking really hard for him. I was fortunate enough to see an albatross though, perched at the top of a tree just before sunset (Wow! They are a really big bird, almost intimidatingly big)

Anyway the fall color (which in Long Beach turns out to be Winter Color) was pretty nice and made a nice reflection. And of course the ducks were out in force and putting on a bit of a show. These ducks are quite the tame variety, the kind that will come right up to you almost on your foot wondering if you are going to feed him. Even if this isn’t the wildest sort of park, it is still really nice and only a few minutes from. Hope you enjoy the photos.

When Bruce and I have our dinner, Jarrod sits in his Exersaucer. It’s a perfect arrangement; Jarrod is happy and somewhat entertained, so we don’t have to constantly pick him up and pass him back and forth. We pull him up to the table so sits between us.

Recently, Jarrod developed an interesting behavior.

Every night, when Bruce starts saying grace, Jarrod gets really excited. I mean really, really excited! He jumps up and down and starts actually yelling, absolutely bursting with joy. He makes so much happy noise, Bruce often has to stop talking and let him calm down. Then Bruce starts talking again, and Jarrod resumes shouting with glee. This continues until Bruce eventually gives up on talking over him, and quickly ends the prayer. Jarrod expresses extreme joy for several minutes after the prayer ends, but it tapers off eventually and normal noise levels return.

I’m very entertained by this. I’m also very intrigued. Why is he yelling? Does he understand what Bruce is doing?

My fun theory: Jarrod is still young enough to know God (whether by instinct or memory or direct knowledge). Maybe a prayer opens a direct “active” connection with God. When the connection opens, Jarrod sees God and just gets too excited to contain himself. I like this theory, though of course I have no idea if it’s true. :) It’s fun to imagine, though.

Anyone else have any theories? :)