Fall Antics

Williamsburg, 2013

As if there was any doubt, yesterday's Fall Harvest festival in East River State Park was evidence that Williamsburg is undergoing a major baby boom. There must have been at least 150 strollers there. Axel galloped around chasing pumpkins and checked out the performance by Puppetsburg, which he watched very intently.

Other than that, we've been doing the usual circuit of coffee-playground-coffee, bumping into friends at every stop. Somehow, there were moments in the baby phase when I didn't feel especially like a parent. It was all so new and surreal, I guess. But when you're on the playground (a.k.a. The Wild West), suddenly you feel very parentish.

I really love seeing how independent and fearless Axel is. He's obsessed with big kids with balls, with razor scooters of every shape and size, and rarely seems to run out of steam. Increasingly, I get to observe him with other children, and I see how incredibly active he is. Other kids are sitting tidily in their parents' laps watching the puppet show, while Axel wants to stand in the middle of the action and get a better view of the performers. He definitely has his own ideas.