yesterday evening

the park was curiously empty yesterday evening, considering it was the most perfect, non-humid summer night any july has ever produced. not to question the opportunity of having the whole playground almost entirely ourselves though, we continued on and called it a freebie. there was only one other family there - a new family with a six month old baby girl, i later learned. august spotted her from across the soccer field before we even got to the playground. "mama, baby!" he pointed out. when the stroller finally came to a stop, he scrambled out of his seat, keeping his eyes glued on the little girl, all the while repeating his observation. he climbed over the little retaining wall onto the mulched court and headed right towards the family, completely disregarding all the springing/sliding/swinging equipment that he had been so worked up about on the walk over. his shyness finally caught up with his fascination when he reached the zip line and there he stopped, hugging/hiding behind the pole, but still watching the girl. i walked up next to him and placed my hand on his head as he said it again, more timidly this time "mama, baby" and then he added "cute". my heart about had it at that moment because yes, that baby *was* very cute, but hearing it from a toddler not a year and a half older, may have been cuter.