Last night was a restless night for our guests. Declan has a snotty nose and trying to sleep with all that going on and him trying to keep his binky in his mouth at the same time was problematic. Hopefully, it was just a case of first night jitters, and everyone will settle down tonight. This morning, Dave had a work meeting and Maren needed some me time, so Anne and I took Declan out for a walk. We could have driven, because Tom, our all-things baby’s vendor came by with a car seat. As an addon he also delivered some Mega Blocks. We walked to the park, pushing Declan away from us in a stroller all the way.

In this park, near the playground is a daycare center. When we arrived, there was a class of 3–4-year-olds already in the playground. Fortunately, they were just leaving. This left Declan with the whole playground to himself. He really seemed to be having a lot of fun, climbing the structures, sliding and especially making his music on the xylophone. After a while, another daycare class showed up. These were younger 2–3-year-old kids. These more age-appropriate children interacted well with Declan. A couple of older boys engaged him in a game of follow the leader, where they were the leaders. One sad little girl kept crying for her mommy, who had unexpectedly shown up, but then left again. Another child had a walker but still seemed determined to do the play structures like the other children. Eventually, Declan’s running with the big dogs caught up with him and he fell and hurt himself. That was our cue to leave.