Monday, September 22, 2008

Wonders never cease

My Princess has always been a VERY cautious little girl. From the time she first started talking one of her favorite sentences was, "That doesn't look very safe," said with a worried look and a dubious tone. The daredevil in question may have been climbing the monkey bars, roller skating, or, as in the case of her much younger cousin, playing on grandma's elliptical machine. She was a watcher, perfectly content to sit on my lap and observe the other kids' shenanigans, and since she was my first child, I was very worried about her gross motor skills. She wouldn't run, skip, or climb - although she could speak in complete sentences at 20 months and used extremely advance vocabulary for her age.

Luckily, at that time in my life, I worked in the same office as our pediatrician and she reassured me that every kid is different and that Princess would do those thing when she was good and ready. We tried to let go of the worry and let her do her own thing while hoping that we wouldn't have the only child in high school who couldn't tie her own shoes. Low and behold, slowly but surely, she is coming out of her shell. This past spring, I was shocked to see her master the monkey bars and hang up-side-down on the bar swing. She was CLIMBING UP the slide for goodness sakes! My in-laws had to call in amazement when they saw the pictures. "Who is this child?" we all asked each other in wonder... She just smiled.

Zman and I still worry about her sometimes, it's hard as a parent not to. She gets made fun of at school for being slower and clumsier than the others. She can't yet do a lot of things that these kids have been doing for years and they are not kind about her slowness to master those skills. Still, she preservers at her own pace, slowly yet steadily making progress. Her confidence in listening to her inner voice and refusing to do something she isn't comfortable with yet, even when they tease her, is as amazing to witness as it is painful to watch.

Yesterday, after owning a bike for 3 years, and having no training wheels on that same bike for 2 years, my Princess just picked it up and rode. Just. Like. That.



Go baby! Go!!





4 comments:

Maggie said...

Wow! Turns and everything. That's so awesome. Give her a high 5 from me.

My sister's kids are very close in age. Only 11 months apart. When it came to gross motor skills, my niece (the younger of the two) was advanced and my nephew (the older) was delayed. My nephew walked first, but my niece walked well before he did. She could run first, ride a bike first, was better as sports.

It always worried my sister and she sometimes held my niece back from doing things in order to give my nephew a little extra time.

They're both in college now and I can tell you that my nephew eventually caught up. In fact, he was one of the best players on his HS soccer team. His running style is a little odd, but he's fast and he developed all those gross motor skills well enough to compete with any kid.

Additionally, he's an incredible artist. My sister still swears that his talents with fine motor skills -- like drawing -- were compensation for his early delays.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, sweet princess!!!

Anonymous said...

Yea for your princess learning how to ride a bike!! I am your SBP and hope you liked your treats:) Also was wondering if you received a book from Amazon about the New england coast? I read on a previous blog that you wanted to visit Maine so thought it would be fun to send you a book about it. Right now, my family and I are on vacation but you'll receive more fun gifts in a few weeks when we return.

Happy Day to you!
Your secret blog pal

Carrie said...

Secret Blog Pal,

Yes, I did get the wonderful book! Thank you!! It came while I was so sick and I never got a thank you post up. I promise to get one on here soon!

Loved the pick-me-up card too!