Charlie's Run

I run a lot of mornings. I get back from my runs and Charlie is always interested. He comes to give me a hug and asks about my sweat. He touches my skin to feel how hot it is. Sometimes he says I "gross him out" and other times he says, "i like gross."  He cracks me up. So when he asked me yesterday if he could run with me with eyes filled with enthusiasm, I had to say yes. Today I came home from my run to find Charlie dressed in sleeveless t shirt and shorts, and a wristband. He was ready to run.

We start running down the sidewalk. He is at a full sprint - walking pace for me (but of course I am pretending that I can not keep up)- and his arms are swinging wildly. Suddenly he stops short. There is a robin. "I am going to catch that robin." He tears off into the neighbor's yard. He gets surprisingly close. The bird flies up into a tree. He gets a defeated look on his face (Charlie, not the bird) and Charlie says, "Awww, I can't reach it." He fully thinks he can catch a bird. We continue the run and he stops short again. He is very excited at the next neighbor's newspaper lying on the sidewalk. "Hey! There's some mail! It is for their house!" Back to running. Until, "I can't make it" and he begins to slow motion run, and eventually walk and then stop. However, he insists we go all the way to the Farmers Market. This makes no sense, but he is 3 yrs old, so I ask him to explain, I say, "Charlie I thought you were too tired?" "No. I'm not!" and he begins running again. We finally get to the Farmers Market. He wants to purchase some fruit but the Farmer's Market is closed. I say, "honey it is closed and I have no money." He reaches down toward his own shorts trying to get his own money that he says he has, however he is in sport shorts and not only does not have any money, but doesn't even have pockets. Such an imagination this kid has. I end up half carrying him the whole way home until we are 3 houses away. I tell him we must race and that daddy will be watching from the window when we get there - He is up for it. He starts running again, and holds my hand running the rest of the way. Stopping short one more time however because he thinks he may be able to catch the squirrel he saw run under another neighbor's car. Of course when he heads into the house he looks for daddy for his praise. I wink to his dad to get the right reaction. And Charlie is sooooooo proud.

I have a feeling I will be going on two runs most mornings from now on.

Also I don't want to forget:
-Charlie comes up to me numerous times a day asking for a "Huggie."
-Scotty and I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. There was a horribly scary preview for Paranormal Activity 3. I was covering my eyes during it and I looked over to find Scotty doing the same thing : )
-Had  conversation with Scotty in the car the other day involving liberalism, conservatism, Democrat and Republican, all sorts of things. He converses very maturely. The conversation is getting a little serious and he looks at me and says, "Mom, you don't have to go into ALL the details, I AM only 12."