Grand Slam

It's finally warm enough here in New Jersey to use the sliding screen door out onto our deck in the backyard. I've been waiting for this for a year. I love when the weather gets warm and the trees sprout and the flowers shoot up and the windows are open. This year it's a whole new experience for the little guy. He remembers last summer playing outside in the yard but this year is entirely different. He's big enough to actually use the screen door - and he LOVES to use the screen door. In and out, in and out, in and out. All day long I hear the slam of the screen door. I think he's experiencing a sense of independence for the first time. He can go out and come back in all by himself. He goes out and knows we're right on the other side of the screen. We can hear everything he's doing and, I suppose, he can hear us too. I love sitting inside and hearing him run up the stairs and across the deck and then the slide of the screen door followed by the "slam." I always hated the slam of that screen door but now it's my new favorite sound. My little man is growing up and has found some freedom. It makes me smile.