Practice Makes You Better...

I woke up with a few little goals in mind when it comes to my bubbly and excited little one. I feel like I need to let him explore more than I have in the past. A lot of our daily adventures are walking for me and riding for him. So, I loaded R up and we went halfway across America to The Shops of Willowbend Mall. They have this awesome little play area with padded flooring and a pretty little climbing fun area (for the itty bitties). As we pulled up and I am talking up that we are going to PLAY, he just lit up! "Play, Play", he says. Ok. Let's go. So, my goal was to let him play. This includes tripping, stumbling, climbing, and running without me two steps behind him. Now, I get he is 18 months and all, but people, I have been his shadow. After the great fireplace fall, I have had a hard time letting him explore like he should be doing at this age. And with that comes the life of a toddler.

So, we start and he is doing well and then as he sees all the other kids leaping and climbing, he falls into line. At the beginning of our hour play session, I am pretty close with him. We practiced going up this little slide area around twenty times and by the end, big man had it on his own. I still stood there because I am cray, but I wasn't helping! At times he would hold out his hand and I would just encourage him to go for it. By the end, he was all sorts of all over the place. I sat down like I did with my other two kids and let him play. I was on the edge of the seat because I could predict him bonking his head a few times, but I refrained. He got up and came and told me about it and then went back out to play. I was pretty darn proud of us. It's the little things, right?

I was walking pretty tall on my goal and decided that I couldn't pass up this cute pair of sandals, which I really did need for my sad little summer shoe collection. I decided to make a sign to wear around my neck that states:

"WILL WORK ON GOALS FOR SHOES"

or

"TRYING TO TO GET BETTER FOR SHOES"

Then I can wear the new shoes and the sign together so Jeff will know that I am only making this family better for the small price of Billabong sandals. What can I say, I am a cheap self improvement bribe recipient! I am cracking myself up over here!:) Do you have any goals that you bribe yourself to achieve? I need backup here, people!

Meet you in the sunshine.
-Jenn