Yesterday started out as a wonderfully lazy Sunday...Multiple cups of tea in the morning followed by a late brunch of yogurt-oatmeal pancakes and fruit...Lots of baby playtime, with Ashley and I passing Eoin back and forth for snuggles and kisses. In the afternoon, Ashley (the hard-working pancake chef) fell asleep on the bed, and that's when I decided to take Eoin for a walk to Trout Lake Park.

It was an overcast day, but not too cold. When we got to the lake, I wheeled Eoin's stroller underneath an enormous willow tree and spread a baby blanket down on the grass. I sat him down on the blanket and sat myself down next to him on a tree root. Within the atrium of the willow tree branches, it felt hushed and secluded, even though the park was teeming with runners, dog walkers, picnickers, and children.

At first, Eoin's sphere of awareness only extended to the blankets' edges. He is always a little dazed after a walk in the stroller. He spent a few minutes looking at me and the blanket, and slapping his hands up and down. I handed him a stick, which he gleefully waved until I got nervous that he would poke it in his eye, and I took it from him. Then he started to look beyond the blanket at a little daisy in the grass. In no time, the blanket couldn't contain him - he was on a mission of discovery.

Once he became intent on eating fallen leaves, I picked him up and brought him over to the tree trunk. He fingered the rough bark and stroked the moss on top of the giant branches. Hello, Big Tree. I lifted him up and sat him on the fork of the trunk. High in his little perch, Eoin grinned down at me with delight and gave the tree some jovial pats.

It was when I was lifting him down that his gaze finally extended far enough for him to notice the branches of the willow tree. He watched with wonder as the willow's walls swayed with the wind. I carried him to the nearest tendril of willow tree, and we worked for a while at catching it as it waved in the breeze.

Finally, I strapped him back in the stroller and folded up the baby's blanket. As we rolled away, Eoin's bright blue eyes were still following the sweep of the willow branches. Personally, I have always found willow trees uncommonly beautiful. It could be that I have a son who does too.