Puddle duck's maiden splash

A big storm blew through tonight, tossing the trees about and turning the light green. Rain came over the top of the gutters and fell in splatting sheets in front of the screen door. Vivian’s play tent lifted in the wind, blew over the patio table, and tumbled into the fence. The power went out and it was dark as if the sun had just gone down.

And then all at once the storm stopped and it was still and warm. Only once in a while a gust would shake big drops from the trees. Vivian and I went out for a walk. And she discovered puddles! Puddles for dipping the toes in. Puddles for stomping in. Puddles for crouching in and touching with the finger tips. She was not dressed for this — she was still in her red velveteen dress and white tights from earlier in the day — and she got soaked. The tights got muddy to the knees and the hem of the dress dangled into the water when she crouched and wicked it up as far as her waist. Even her diaper got wet and she started to waddle.

And then it started to rain again and her little curls got plastered. They came out of their clip and tumbled into her face; she looked like a sheepdog.

And still she didn’t want to go in. I only herded her back to the house when it got quite dark. I wiped her down and put her in warm flannel jammies. During her change she made a long, excited report to me, featuring her new word, “puddle.”

“Pudda! Spash spash spash pudda. Pudda, Mama! Pudda. Ge go go!”

It’s eleven o’clock now and she’s just finally settling in. Too much excitement before bed.

But she was such a happy little duck!