Today is the last day of February which I consider perfect to finish this mini series about our winter walks. You can read part 1 here.

Looking at photographs taken during our winter walks, it may seem that everything is smoothly going and that it is just the weather what changes. Wrong! Most of the days it is quite stressful to get dressed and go outside. Although B. is the one asking to go outside, he does everything possible and impossible to lengthen time at home before going outside. It does not matter if I leave everything as it is and go get ready for outside immediately, or I tell him to wait until we finish our food. It does not matter if we play and sing and have fun when we get ready or I get us ready as a robot. He almost always can think of things delaying us leaving home.

Getting ready is not the only hard part of our walks. Sometimes there are moments when I can not do anything else but take him in my arms and carry him home screaming. It is always very difficult for me, especially when these insane moments come after really peaceful ones.

January 21, 2021

It was really foggy and gloomy day. B. received a package with child-sized pair of skis and as there was no snow, he took ski poles. They were perfect to dig in puddles and mud. “Mud, mud, mud,” he kept repeating in English.

I explored these small colorful pieces in cracks of the pavement. They are plastic residues after sledding in too low snow.

January 23, 2021

B. imitating the growth of the tree.

Social distancing walk in the wood. B. played with sticks for about 20 minutes on one spot! We shook tall and thin trees and watched how we can move even the furthest and smallest twig.

January 27, 2021

Snow again.

Ski poles became our winter walks companions.

January 30, 2021

Warm and sunny again. Just sweat pants, no snow pants.

We saw so many piles of deer excrements, animal tracks and bee houses.

Probably lichen Cladonia and cypress-leaved plaitmoss (Hypnum cupressiforme).

February 1, 2021

This morning was one of those highly contrastive, like drama: beautiful introduction, shocking climax and unbearable catastrophe. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) I have just photographs of the first part.

The Moon is one of the elements of the universe that B. can recognize for a very long time. He is fascinated by it – observes the shape, checks the position of it in the sky, expects the light it reflects to be visible.

Cold and frosty morning. Sunrise warms my face. B. plays in the frozen puddle.

B. with his doll stroller walking towards the playground where we played for few minutes. He enjoyed speedy ride on the frosty slide.

Then he saw something in the distance that he wanted to show me. It was a playground behind the locked fence. He wanted to go in and ride a push motorcycles parked there. I explained him that I do not have keys and therefore we can not get in. I encouraged him to try the handle. Of course, it was locked. Tantrum. Playground fence biting included. Refusal to take his stroller and continue in the walk or go home. Me desperately carrying him home. Both of us crying. Each of us for different reasons. Leaving B. at home with M. and coming back to the playground for the doll stroller. Announcement – we do not take any toys outside for next few walks, because this was the second time something like this happened.

After few similarly spiced up days I got so nervous going outside that the next day I had cramps in my stomach and we needed to come back home after a while. B. was crying that he wants to stay outside so we stayed on our loggia. It was safer, toilet was close enough for me. So we had a short break from our winter walks.

February 10, 2021

B.’s first snowman he has ever built.

Snowflakes were huge, snow was wet.

February 11, 2021

Milky Way galaxy. Frozen puddle. Two different points of view. How his imagination can spark interest and joy in me too…

February 12, 2021

Very windy and therefore chilly afternoon.

Snowman talk.

February 13, 2021

Bird feeders we created inspired by our Mud and bloom prescription box.

So spacious…

Fishing. Stick in the frozen puddle.

February 15, 2021

Sticks. The one in B.’s left hand is called “machines” as it reminds him several machines in one – a drill, a crane, a harvester…

Beautiful shapes of frozen water.

Three rabbits running through the field.

This is my favorite part of our walks in surrounding.

February 16, 2021

B. on the frozen lake for the first time.

Drawing and walking on the frozen lake. He fell down several times and learned frozen lake is slippery. And it is hard.

That struggle!

And he did it by himself!

February 18, 2021

Like the owner of the field checking his land.

Field work.

And another moon phase.

During our walks I am usually amazed by B.’s memory, imagination and ability of spotting details and relating facts.

Once he spotted two hinds running through the field. He always points at animal tracks and excrements as we hunted for them last autumn. He can find common mistletoe balls growing in the trees from huge distance (and he also wants to count them). We observed a tit – either Eurasian blue tit or great tit – I am not sure, because I was not wearing glasses. B. wanted to catch the tit in his hand and place it near the bird feeders we made. He also likes to imitate bird singing. He is especially interested in exploring molehills as he watches animated cartoons Little Mole. B. can recognize lichens, mosses and mushrooms. I still have many things to learn about species – that is why I take photographs and place also some here in posts.