Toddler Toes

When the first signs of warm weather approach, I don't know about you, but I ditch my winter socks and boots...and throw on my favorite flats or sandals.  No socks feels so freeing.  

And "like mother, like daughter," I've also noticed that I've subconsciously begun to dress Mya without socks, too, when the warmer weather arrives.  And at every chance she gets, she'll wiggle her little piggy toes out of her shoes and run around in bare feet...just like me.  She loves being sock-free...AND shoe-free.  

Earlier today, we visited with my parents for a bit.  Nearly as soon as we arrived, she quickly kicked off her tiny flats and was roaming around.  Bare feet and all.  As usual.  And she LOVED it.  I spotted her smiling as she walked on their carpet and then quickly moved onto their linoleum floor...realizing that the different floors felt very different on her little feet.  She's always exploring, and I enjoy sitting back and witnessing those moments as they take place.  And while coloring with my Dad, they decided to put a crayon in between her big toe and that next toe.  She was trying to color with her bare feet.  Her little upper body would wiggle super fast, in an attempt to convince her foot to draw with that lime green crayon.  It was a tough concept...with very little success yet...but the joy on her face and the little giggles were worth it.  And on our car ride home from lunch with my parents, I glanced in my rear-view mirror to discover her stretching her leg (again, she had kicked off her shoes)...extending it out as far as she could and pressing her heel against the button on the car door.  Opening her car window, so she could "wave at the cars that passed us on the road."  

I never realized how much more she could accomplish and learn today...in her bare feet.  

And it may seem silly that I'm blogging about her tiny feet, but I'm telling you.  When you become a parent, you notice these tiny details about your kids, and it melts your heart.  You realize how much there is for them to learn in life.  How much we influence them.  And how much the world around them has an influence on them, too.  You realize that it's the littlest things that bring our youngsters the greatest joy.  And it makes you stop and think about seeing life more and more through your child's eyes.  Or experiencing it alongside them...bare feet and all.