New Found Freedom

A set of wheels

 Jara has been begging me for weeks to take the training wheels off of her bike.  I've been putting her off.  I still remember learning to ride a bike.  Thankfully Jara has her father's bike riding genes.  She's got speed, skill and bravado.  I haven't seen her take an interest in anything like this since we introduced her to the lake five years ago.  She is in her element.  The training wheels and her mother were holding her back.  I guess I had to let her fly.  And fly she did, but not without her trusty safety vest of course.  She begged me to keep riding once it got dark and I told her it wouldn't be safe.  She promptly fetched Jed's road construction reflective vest out of his truck and declared herself safe. She's glowing.  I wish I had a picture of her face, I only have video and this one picture.  Also:  bike riding for an entire afternoon will help your child to go to sleep promptly at 7:00.  Wiped her out.  That's it-bikes for everyone! 

Walking!

Elise did it, she graduated from crawling to walking!  Goodness, I forget how fast they can become, literally overnight.  One week having to be bribed to walk across the rug, the next week streaking.  She is so proud of herself.  I love to see her tottering little crab walk all through the house.  However, once they walk they don't seem as babyish.  sniff sniff.  And it is a little unsettling to catch something out of the corner of my eye moving at that level now.  I feel like the toys are coming to life.  Minor details compared to the joy of clean hands and knees.  

Yay for my girls and their new found freedoms!  

Warning:

streaking will not be cute when you are a teenager Elise, don't even think about it.