Rolling around the 'hood

Today Isabella made great strides in becoming less squirrel, more girl. We take a lot of walks, since our neighborhood has a lovely, tree-lined parkway. And at every crosswalk we gather & cross together. Well, Isabella panics every time she even hears a distant motor rumble. And it drives me nuts.

Here's the scenario: Me pushing stroller, Cole darting ahead, Jadyn lagging behind, and "deer-in-the-headlights" Isabella freezing mid-road and running BACK across the road. Stop procession, call Cole, turn and go back to collect her. She gets so spooked, she keeps running, to the closest yard, zig-zagging like a squirrel. Sort of like Forrest Gump, she just keeps running, going far, far away from vehicular danger. Oh, and let's not forget the cars in both directions that have to stop & wait! I wave thanks to the drivers, shaking my head. They always grin - though I gotta say, unless you have kids, how could you expect this? I wonder if I used to be impatient with families like mine, kids strung out across the road as though the Mom were careless or in la-la-land. Little did I know then that despite all good intentions, kids will walk as they please.

My pep talk goes like this "Isabella. Where is the safest place to be? With Mommy & the other kids." Repeat as needed. Her answer? "Off the road!" Well, yes and no... And Jadyn copy pep talks her :"Bewa. Stay with Mom."

So, we walked to the Cleaners this morning, and had to cross a real road - and she did it! She simply held onto the stroller and walked across. What a miracle - there's no stopping us now! :) Yep, my entourage & I can now cross roads without stopping 2-way traffic.