04/17/2008

Carolina learned to ride a two wheel bike! Yesterday she came inside saying "Mom, Mom, come watch I can ride a two wheel bike. Come see!" She had put aside her shiny new barbie bike with streamers on the handle bars (that has training wheels) for a temporary go on Sally's beat up non-training wheeled wheels. She centered herself and lost the center and said to keep watching. Then she got right on that bike and took off! She was riding a bike! She said with triumph and uumph (yes, both), "I wanted to show you Mom, because I wanted to prove it to you, Mom!" Eli quickly removed her training wheels so she is back to Barbie streamer bliss in even more glory. She asked me today if when we got home "could she ride her two wheel bike." She'd been asking us for the last couple weeks if we could take off her training wheels and we kept telling her "soon, we'll take you to a park with a trail and grass so if you fall the grass will pad your fall..." But we hadn't taken her yet. She's got a real go-getter spirit about her. She set her mind to somthing and she wanted this goal. Eli and I considered how we need to remember honoring the dreams our little ones have by facilitating them acheive them. It's easy to consider the mess that will be made and the time it will take but the reward goes far beyond. When I was at Ricks I had a child Development assignment to get a written report from my parents about how my coming into the world affected them and what they noticed about me. I kept their notations and I am reminded of a clause in my Dad's statement about me, "It began to manifest its personality. This personality was forward all the way. Get out of the way world come hell or high water this child would learn, succeed and excel." And thus we have our dear Sunny Carolina, a bit like her mother.