Video Monday: Shadow

Every afternoon (if the weather cooperates, of course) Riley and I head outside to sit on the driveway for about 40 minutes or so before going back in to start his bedtime routine.

I love this time. Riley loves this time, too. He absolutely loves being outside and will immediately calm down even if he’s being fussy (which he has been in recent afternoons) and just look around, taking everything in. The trees moving, the cars going by, the dogs barking, the kids playing.

We started this little daily tradition a few weeks ago. This activity is a bit more of a challenge now because of daylight savings time, but the glaringly bright sunshine at 4:30pm isn’t stopping us!

However, the pictures below are from the beginning of this month, on a cool and sunny afternoon not long before sunset.

The day Riley discovered his shadow.

  

These pictures were actually taken about 10 minutes after we first got out there because we had to go back inside to get my camera after I saw how he was reacting. He went nuts! He laughed, wiggled his body, and waved his arms, all in delight at seeing his shadow. I just sat there watching him, mesmerized by the joy he was exuding.

I do have a video to share (it is Monday, after all!), and although I unfortunately did not capture that pure, unbridled enthusiasm he exhibited when he first saw his shadow, I still think it’s pretty good. You’ll see that I had to catch him a couple of times because he got so excited that he started to fall over.

Not the easiest thing to do with a camera in your hand, especially one that is recording what’s happening. Everything worked out just fine, though, and I was rewarded with a really great moment on video.

Happy Monday!