What Ezra's doing

Noah and I were just talking about how Ezra does all these funny little things everyday, and that if we don't write them down, we run the risk of forgetting them later in life. So I just wanted to share a few stories of what Ezra's been doing lately, as he nears the 15 month mark. At the playground, Ezra loves to push around the giant climbing structure/merry-go-round. Usually there are too many kids playing on it to let him (because they push it so fast that when he holds onto the edge he falls right down), but yesterday he had the whole structure to himself. He grabbed hold of it, and grunted like an olympic weight-lifter, and started turning the whole thing himself. It was hilarious to watch a 2-foot tall kid push a 15-foot tall, 10-foot diameter metal structure around, very determined and red-faced. He loves to study the patterns the sun makes on the ground as it passes through the holes. He also loves to stand underneath the big kid monkey bars and whine to be lifted up -- when I hold on to him, he can grab onto the monkey bars, and he'll actually hold on for a few seconds when I let go (still standing right there to catch him of course).
His other favorite activities these days are playing with buckles -- he is obsessed with trying to figure out how his high-chair buckle and stroller buckle unbuckles -- he's going to spring himself out of those contraptions soon, I fear. It is the only thing that can hold his attention for close to 20 minutes.
He also loves riding around on our backs. It's gotten to the point where he'll come up behind us and hold his arms up and try to jump on our backs. In music class this week, he actually kept coming behind me for a ride.
He's still doggy-obsessed. The other day, he ran across the whole little league field, spying the dogs across the way in the dog park. As he got within 30 feet of the dogs, he started laughing and running faster.