Learning to Walk

I had "one of those weeks" this week.
In the midst of it, Miss Swanky Frankie decided that she was determined to walk.

On Wednesday morning, before daycare, Frankie took a few steps while we were playing. I told her that Daddy was coming on home on Friday for the weekend and to hang tight. I pretended like nothing happened. I actually dissuaded my kid from walking. Who does that? Mother-of-the-year, I am.

That evening, Frankie and I went to our friends, The Otis', house for a very nice dinner. We played, FJ took another few steps, I ignored it, we ate, we laughed, it was fun. After I surveyed Frankie's usual mess of "things she wasn't in the mood for" all over their kitchen floor, we conveniently decided we needed to leave in order to get home for our nightly routine. There we were... in the car...ready to go...backing down the driveway, when I--in a matter of seconds--ran into the Otis' sweet, luxury car promptly changing it from a "whooptie" to a "hooptie." I felt horrible. Horrible. And it didn't help matters that I had to listen to Frankie relentlessly repeating "Uh-Oh" the whole ride home. Zip it, Rainman--Mama just pimped a ride.

On Thursday, I sat in a deposition for most of the day. That actually would have been fine if I WAS A LAWYER. I'm being sued by the woman who bought my old house. She's suing me for fraud. She believes that I lied about problems with the crawl space of my old house. I didn't. I never even went into the crawl space. Do I seem like the girl who would go into a crawl space? No thanks. I was exhausted when I got home and all I wanted to do was crunch my kid. When she got her up from her nap, I was so excited to see her and she burped in my face. Awesome.

Friday: Big day. Ohhhh, big day. Cody's coming home for the weekend, Beanie and Nicole (Frankie's best friend/camp nanny) are coming to stay with us, and it's vaccination day--one of the holiest of days. On top of that, FJ is really dying to walk and I still won't let her go full-blown until Daddy comes home. I explained to her (again) that I want her to take her first steps with both of us. It worked. Cody came home and Frankie went hands-free. There is nothing cuter than watching her walk. She is just so proud of herself. She looks like an extra from "Night of the Living Dead," all wobbly and unstable with her hands out in front of her: thump, thump, thump... and then she invariably falls after 4-6 steps and gets back up again: thump, thump, thump...

Cody made it home in time for the doctor appointment. As always, the vaccination shot was harder on me than on Frankie. I hate vaccinations but I love, love, love our pediatrician (Dr. O'Shea) and her new office is insane. It has a very contemporary feel and the vibe is warm. Everyone that works there is happy to be there and totally sincere. Each patient room is equipped with a TV and a really comfy leather couch. (How crazy is that? No sterile tables--couches!! Leather couches!) Dr. O'Shea talked to us for awhile while I sank into the comfy couch and Frankie alternated between climbing all over Cody and playing with the toys we brought in from the waiting room. She did, however, manage to say "Hi-eeee" about 50 times in order to ascertain that she does indeed have that word down. The whole experience was surreal. It was so laid back, we could have just as easily been hanging at Dr O'Shea's house. Even her kleenex box matched the decor. Cody and I walked out holding a happy kid and a complimentary Your Child's Health book shaking our heads in total disbelief that a doctor office visit could be so painless. Well, maybe not totally painless for FJ...but her recovery was fast, her band-aid was cute, and after we explained to her that the alternative (Polio) would SUCK, Dr. O'Shea's Mom let her pick out a toy to take home. All was well again. Vaccinations and party favors. Love it.

Yes, it was one of those weeks. It was one of those weeks filled with ups and downs. We've all been there. We've all had them. It's interesting to me that I had this kind of week while Frankie was learning to walk. After her initial descent into Stepsville, USA, I watched my girl fall down and spring back up about 100 times. Determination and resilience surrounded her every single time and it not only was it inspiring, but also a gentle reminder that there may be days when we're down--but it doesn't take long to get back up on our feet, where we belong.