Freedom

Thanks to everyone who's already answered the survey. I'd still love more input so if you haven't already, please humour me and read the post below this one.

Don't tell Sean but my kid walks with a leash.

Connor has discovered the joys of walking. If we go out somewhere in the car the first word out of his mouth when we're getting out is "walk?"
When we're taking the kids to school, he's not content to sit in the stroller, he wants to walk.
When I take the daycare kids outside (it's too wet/mucky) to go in the backyard, he lasts two minutes in the 'rumble seat' of the sit and stand and then he wants to walk.

Now in all fairness when it's just me and him or me and the girls and him, he doesn't wear the tether. He holds my hand. But if I'm pushing the stroller with 1 or two other babies in it, I can't do that with one hand so I fashioned a little tether to put on his wrist. He's got lots of leaway to explore but not enough to get into trouble. And I only did it because the other day (before the invention of the tether) he thought he should run into the street to step on the sewer grate. (more on that in a minute)
From there we had a screaming fit that last the rest of our walk (about 5 blocks) because I made him get back into the stroller. Now at least, he can explore and he can't get to the road.

About the sewer grates. He's got a thing with them. Some of them rattle when he steps on them and this is pretty awesome apparently. But we are sometimes required to go out of our way in parking lots because he spots one that he absolutely must step on. I know some of you are saying "really, you go out of your way?" Yeah, I do. I've learned the hard way that it's easier to walk the extra 25 feet to step on the sewer grate than it is to buy a weeks worth of groceries with the tantruming toddler. Some battles aren't worth fighting.

Running is the new fun thing to do. When we go to pick the girls up from school he like to run in the soccer field. And he wants everyone to know what he's doing (in case there is any question) He'll run back and forth the length of the field yelling "Running! Running!"

My little man is enjoying his new found freedom. I'm not sure I like it so much though. It means he's growing up too fast.