braxton michael | fifteen months.

Mamas, you know those dreams you dream and prayers you pray over your little ones? Well, I watched one of those really come to life this month.

We have a fearless, adventure-seeking, outdoor-loving, wild man on our hands, and we love it. Since he was born, and especially since he started crawling, countless people have told me, "Just wait until he starts walking. You spend so much time wishing he would walk, and then you'll wish he would sit down as soon he does." I always politely smile back at those who make comments like this, but I have a public confession to make: I silently (and, occasionally, not-so-silently) disagreed with them.

My family called me "Anna Go Henderson" when I was younger because I was always doing just that: going. And although they don't call me by that name anymore (well, except for my mommy), I think they're all aware that going and doing are still my favorite past-times. So, when people told me that he would never stop going and doing once he started, their well-meaning warning made a thrilling surge of excitement pulse through my veins instead of the fear and anxiety that they intended it to.

This past month, we intentionally went outside after a rainstorm for the sole purpose of splashing in puddles. We went to the park and ran through the grass until we were so tired that we could barely breathe. We climbed mountains and visited places that many people don't even know exist. We dug in the dirt, and I laughed, not fussed, when I saw that brown ring around his mouth. We had play dates with other kiddos + their mamas, but we also had play dates when it was just us. He ran away from me, and I chased him with a big grin on my face. He, also, learned to hide from me, and I pretended like his hiding spot was much better than it actually was. He slid down the slide head first about a dozen times, and even though I knew he would probably get hurt eventually, I let him. He picked up sticks and rocks and leaves, and I watched his curiosity run rampant. He made a mad-dash for the middle of the road, and he let out a big cackle when I caught him just before he reached the asphalt. And those are just the highlights.

Sometimes he smiles all day, and other times he is fussy from the time he wakes up in the morning until the time he goes to sleep at night. Regardless of his mood, however, nothing makes him come alive like being outside does (this helps mama out, too, because some days I am not as patient with him as I'd like to be). He isn't fearful of wide open spaces (yep, I just made some of you burst out into song, but I digress...) or becoming friends with someone (literally anyone) that he just met a few seconds ago or leaping through the air without knowing who (or what, at times) will catch him.

Real fun has just begun this past month for our little guy, and TJ and I are having fun right alongside of him. It's been fifteen months of abundant life that we never knew before him, and we are confident that the best it yet to come!