NaBloPoMo 12/30: Riding a bike

This morning I got to sleep in with Carter, which was nice. We got up around 8:00, and he woke up laughing, apparently having a funny dream. He told me he wanted to "go downstairs and see Daddy", and I reminded him that Daddy was at the office building. He was sad for a moment, but then I suggested we call Doug, and he got excited.

It's interesting that he can talk on the phone now. He does more listening than talking, but he really likes it. He'll just stand there and grin, and he loves it. It's funny how it wasn't that long ago that it would never have occurred to me to put the phone to his ear, but now we do it all the time.

I had to go to campus today, so we didn't get to spend too much time together. Michelle played with him, and took him to Lakeline Mall to ride the train. That mall is such a fun place to go with kids. It was rainy off and on today, so it was a good day to go.



Michelle often takes pictures of what they're doing and texts them to me during the day, which I really appreciate! These two are both from her. When I got home, they were playing in the driveway.



After Michelle left, Carter and I continued playing in the driveway. A little boy and his dad from down the street came to roller skate in the cul-de-sac, and Carter got excited and wanted to join in, so he got on his bike and started riding around. Out of the blue he started doing a little balancing, which I've never seen him do before. I tried to get in on video, but he goes so fast that it's hard to catch it! He does it around the 17 second mark in this video. It didn't get captured on the video well, but the whole time he was riding around he was saying, "Wheee! Yippeeee!" And right at the very end, he falls off!



I went over to see how he was, and he was crying,so I asked him if anything needed to be kissed, and he said, "No. I need to get back on the bike." And so he did! He rode around a bit more, and then went down a neighbor's fairly steep driveway, balancing for a good part of the way. Not by choice, I think -- he was going so fast he couldn't put his feet down! I knew that would end badly, but there was nothing I could do about it. Sure enough, he crashed at the bottom, and burst into tears again. This time he had a big scrape on his knee, and wanted me to kiss his hands. But then he wiped his tears away and got back on the bike!

I love how stubborn and determined he is. I really, really do!