A bit over four years, and today I went hiking for real, at a solid speed, with the kid. It was fabulous. It took about four years, but it seems that we've finally reached the point where he's mobile enough that mommy can feel like she had a good hike too.

Not saying that I didn't like these past four years strolling along while he played at his own pace, but I'm thrilled to have reached the point now that I can go closer to my own pace. I missed my pace.

It was really impressive too, actually. The kid pretty much ran the whole four miles, which ended up to be way more for him because he would run up with the dogs, then run back, then on ahead again, on and on the whole trail. And then he climbed the big tower at the end too. There was about half a mile in there where he got a bit bummed and wanted to hold hands and go slow, but then he perked back up and started running around some more.

I'm actually glad there were no concussions today considering the way he leapt over the roots and rocks.

It was a great day all around. The little boy's getting so big.