Winter Wonderland: Baby's First Snow!

Ok, so technically Alton has seen it snow before, but he was like two months old and there were barely a few puny flakes. Today it has been snowing since we got up at 8am and still going strong. We decided to take the little guy out for a few minutes into the front yard to see him experience the cold white stuff for the first time. This snow is like perfect movie snow: fluffy and pristine, the flakes are a nice size for you to see as they fall from the sky, but not so large that they are big icy lumps. It's coming down slowly enough for you to get a good look at all the soft, innocuous flakes eddying around one another, but quickly enough that any footprints are quickly covered up with evenly distributed, cottony snow that makes a quiet crunching sound under your feet as you walk around.
In order to take Alton out of doors in this lacy loveliness, we had to get him appropriately attired. But Californians that we are, we have acquired good winter jackets for the family and nothing else. No snow pants or snow boots, and Alton's mittens are a thin handknitted affair that Mama made him to match his hat. I have some snow gloves, but Andy goes out bareheaded and barefooted unless I call after him to come inside and put some shoes on his frozen feet. Alton started out with fleece overalls and a long sleeved shirt, then we added another pair of pants, another pair of socks with the overalls tucked into them, hard-soled shoes that didn't quite fit on his feet with the two pairs of socks, the knitted hat and mittens and his new winter jacket from Nonna and Papa with the fleece liner, down-filled outer, and hood. Gown up!
Our foray was just out to our driveway and front lawn, and at one point I set Alton down so that he was sitting on my shoes as he reached forward between his legs to touch the snow on the ground. Since he can't walk or stand without support yet, he still orients himself in the world from a seated position, so even though I was holding him to stand up or perching him on my knee to look at the snow, he had to see it for himself by plopping down on his bottom and smacking it around a little. We think he had a good time.

Snowy driveway and street

Touching the snow in Mama's hand

Preparing to walk in the snow

Sitting on Mama's shoes

Hmm, snow.

Yay snow!

Peering at the snow...

...he buries his hand in it...

...then realizes this stuff is stinkin' cold!

Snowy good time!



I just remembered I'm really cold.

Frozen baby eyelashes

Time to go inside

Now the "gloves" are off...or should we say mittens?

One Tooth Wonder offers you his mitten

Perched in the living room against a snowy tableau