In the Eyes of a Child

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. 

~Walt Streightiff

 

Wednesday of Few Words: Maplewood Farm

On Saturday we made our second trip to Maplewood Farm, this time for a birthday party.  Once again, this wonderful little farm in North Vancouver, less than half an hour from our home, delivered.  The rain held off, the light was good, and the toddlers were even semi-cooperative with my photography attempts!

The adventurous birthday boy enjoyed getting up close and personal with the goats,

And my timid girl was very brave and even attempted to feed the ducks right out of the palm of her hand.

(Hands were washed before cake was consumed.)

This place might just have magical powers: Our visit there brought me to a whole new level of acceptance that fall is here, and it's really not such a bad thing.  The photo ops alone might just be worth the cold and the rain!

Wordful Wednesday: Maplewood Farm

We've been meaning to make a trip to Maplewood Farm since it opened for the year - we'd heard such great things from a number of friends who are also parents of toddlers.  On Saturday, the weather was unexpectedly nice (the forecast had previously been calling for rain), so we headed out with some friends for Lilah's first farm experience.

Before Lilah turned one, she used to launch herself head-first into new experiences.  She had the loudest, highest-pitched shriek of all the babies I knew (still does, though she uses it less often), she was a risk-taker, and fiercely independent.  Hence the early mobility - early to commando crawl, early to pull up and cruise the furniture, early to finger-walk, and very early to walk unsupported.  While she is still fiercely independent, she has become a lot more cautious.  Especially when it comes to approaching animals.  (With the exception of our cats, whom she loves to feed/tease with treats.)  Thus, most of Lilah's time at the farm was spent like this:

And like this (because horses can be pretty darn intimidating):

Lilah's BFF, on the other hand, is totally fearless when it comes to animals.  They say opposites attract!

Eventually, Lilah did allow her feet to touch the ground, but she still preferred to observe from afar.

We were concerned that the Hubs and I were going to be the only ones making use of the bird seed we bought specifically for Lilah.



However, there was one animal in particular that Lilah was not afraid to feed (though he prefers crackers to birdseed):

I think Lilah's favourite parts of the farm were the tractors,

and holding hands with her BFF.

And then, just as we were about to leave the farm, this happened:

Which had me running back to the little store to purchase more birdseed for the girls, since we were almost out by that point.

I ofen find myself sitting back and marveling at the little personality that is emerging right before my eyes, and these types of outings tend to highlight her developing traits.  Some of it is nurture, yes, but I attribute much of it at this early stage to nature. I see a lot of myself in Lilah, so it really shouldn't come as any surprise to me that, like me, she can be quite shy and a little slow-to-warm-up.

What do outings like this tell you about your own family members's personalities?  Do you think kids' personalities can change throughout their childhood, or do the core traits stay the same?  Please share your thoughts in the comments!