Calliope's First Trip to the Playground (and my trip down Memory Lane)

With the end of summer near, we've been spending as much time as possible outside. Last weekend, we walked over to the neighborhood playground with our neighbors Shawn, Julie, Nolan, and baby Kieran. Up until this point, Calliope had spent most of our playground trips tucked into her stroller or into my sling, but not this time. This time she was gonna hang out with the big kids! We plopped her into one of the baby swings, pulled back on the swing, crossed our fingers that she wouldn't start screaming, and let go...

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Well, she did start screaming, but not in fear - in utter delight! With each pass, Calliope's pigtails fluttered like handlebar streamers on a bicycle, and she couldn't stop giggling, shrieking, and waving her fists in joy.

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Benjamin and Nolan wanted in on the fun, so we let them give her a push, but boys being boys, they fought over whose turn it was to do it. We wound up having to take them over to the big boy swings on the other side of the playground.
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As I watched them swing back and forth, I thought back to their first time at this park together:

.God, they're growing up fast!