Almost Today: Ducks

This weekend while I was up in Connecticut for Easter, my mom and I decided to take Fox on a little adventure to Boston. I grew up near the city and one of my favorite children's books has always been Make Way for Ducklings. I remember being little and going on the Duck Tour of the city and I really wanted a picture of Fox with all the duck statues in the Public Garden. Well, easier said than done! When we first walked over to them he started to get a little nervous because there were so many people around, but I thought he would be ok. He held it together until I took him out of the stroller and put him down for his picture - at which point he just lost it. He was terrified of all the people, but more than that was the fact that the ducks are on cobblestones, which is pretty much Fox's nightmare. I've written before about how he is very sensitive to textures and won't walk on grass if he can avoid it, etc. - so just imagine how he does with cobblestones under his little feet! He tried to run off them, wobbling the whole time, but then he realized they were surrounded with mulch, which is, of course, his least favorite thing in the entire world. The poor little guy didn't know what to do so he just started screaming at the top of his lungs. Everyone stopped and stared at him, looking so confused as to why he didn't like the ducks. They were there happily snapping pictures of their kids riding the ducks, patting the ducks, hugging the ducks, quacking at the ducks - and they just couldn't understand why a kid would be so upset. I felt like they were all staring at us and I just wanted to yell "I'm not a bad mom, I'm not making him scream, he has sensory issues!" - but of course I didn't. We took a little break and walked over to see the swan boats, just trying to regroup a little bit and then decided to give it one last chance. When I put him down again he started crying but I stayed with him and tried to show him that everything was going to be alright. I touched the duck and showed him that there was nothing to be afraid of, and just tried to get him to focus more on that then what was under his feet. Eventually I was able to back away from him and actually get a few good pictures. He didn't last long, probably only a minute, but he did it. I love the pictures of him standing there alone because it was such a special moment - he got past his fear. I am such a proud mommy! Oh, and I definitely think he is starting to understand more because whenever someone would say "ducks" for the rest of the weekend he would start crying. :)