Car Rides, Squirrel Chasing, and Soccer

I've mentioned a few times how Conlan really likes car rides. He still does. It's very calming for him. He likes watching out the window. He likes the lights, especially Christmas lights during Winter. He likes watching the cars, trees, buildings and signs go by. He has two car seats, one for his mom's van and one for my car. The one in my car is just a booster seat. We bought it a couple years ago when he grew out of his car seat. When we bought it, he wouldn't stay in it, taking his seat belt off or slipping out. So we bought a bigger car seat that his mom now has. That was the solution then, just to remove the option/ability for him to escape his seat belt. The first few times since reusing the booster seat, I let it get to me whenever he would either unbuckle or shimmy his way out of the seat belt and yelled at him to get back in his seat. Not only did I feel awful for "losing it", the results of said action were mixed. Sometimes he'd sit back down. Most times though, he'd just ignore me. For the sake of his safety, something had to change: either buy a new seat with a 3-point harness or change my own approach. With finances being tight and not wanting to waste a perfectly good booster seat, I decided on the second option. And besides, he has learned to unbuckle the upper strap on his car seat that goes across his chest. So a new car seat wouldn't have lasted very long anyway - it's only a matter of time until he learns how to undo the lower buckle. So to change my own approach, instead of yelling whenever he unbuckled or climbed out of the seat belt, I stopped the car. I pulled over every time, buckled him back in, and calmly explained to him why (for his safety, that I love him, etc.) he needed to stay in his seat with the seat belt on. I've even turned on the hazard lights a few times and sat blocking traffic while I buckled him up. Sure, a few people have honked, but that didn't bother me. After a few weeks of consistent and calm enforcing of the rules, he doesn't try to get out as much. Over the past week, he's kept his seat belt on the whole time. Most of the trips are short: between my place and his mom's or to my girlfriend's, both about a half hour. But it's progress! I wonder how he would do on a long trip... Also on car rides, he loves playing with the windows. Window locks are great. But if I leave the window up too high, he gets out of his seat. He likes feeling the wind as it flows over his hand. That was so fun as a kid, I can really relate! Sometimes I wish I knew what was going through Conlan's mind. When he sees a squirrel, he follows it. If the squirrels would let him, I bet that he'd do it all day! Does he want to catch one and play with it? Is it the chase that intrigues him? Is it watching the squirrel move about? How the squirrel efortlessly hops, fluidly moves his tail, or grips the trees and climbs with such ease? Who knows. I'm just glad Conlan enjoys it. Who would've thought that moving across country from a desert of lizards and night critters to a forest of squirrels and other critters would provide such a small but meaningful benefit! Last weekend, Conlan had a blast watching, interfering, chasing, etc. the neighbors as they played soccer. Even though Conlan can't form words in Spanish or English, language isn't a barrier. Odd. It was so nice and heart-warming when one guy (one of a couple young adults) set the ball down in front of Conlan and told him in broken English that he could kick the ball. They all paused as they stopped their game for him. Conlan just picked up the ball and gave it to him as if to say, "Kick it, I like watching you do it." A few times they tried. I watched both with amusement and a deep sense of true happiness and joy.