Rocking Horsin' Around

While we were still living in California and long before we got our referral, I found this neat rocking horse on Craigslist. I picked it up for a song and was couldn't wait to see Sophia on it some day.

When we first arrived back from China, Sophia wasn't the least bit interested in her little chestnut horse. If I tried to put her on it, she made it abundantly clear she wanted off, immediately! I have to admit I was a little disappointed, however, I took comfort in the fact that she seemed to adore its live counterpart, Mambo.

This week, out of the blue, she started to go over to the rocking horse and pat it. Then last night while Colin was putting her to bed, she decided she wanted to ride it. Colin helped her on and when I came into her room (I had been cleaning up toys in the living room), I found Sophia contentedly rocking away, completely unassisted! As a rider, the thing that amazed me was her perfect form. She was utterly balanced and even had a perfect leg position.

It was my turn to put her to bed tonight. She started off her bedtime with a, not so subtle, request to wear her squeaky shoes we had purchased for her in China. She had recently discovered them and even though they are summer shoes, she takes great delight in squeaking all over the house. Tonight she yanked them out of her shoe rack and brought them over to me and sat down, holding up her feet. Since she was already in her feet pajamas, it was a little challenging to put them on and Sophia thought it was hysterical watching me struggle. After I finally pried them onto her feet, she took a few laps around her room and then patted the horse and tried to climb on.

I helped her on and she started rocking away. Tonight, her leg position was less than perfect since she has decided to wrap them around the horse's neck. Nonetheless, she has a lot of fun. Fortunately, I was able to snag the camera and document the moment.