Solo Ride

Last weekend, after attending VegFest, we walked around Seattle Center checking out what fun could be had for a two-year old. I was pushing Austin in his stroller when we passed by the kiddie rides. Being a seasoned amusement park rider, he literally jumped out of the moving stroller when he saw the rides. He ran up to the ride he wanted to go on and tried to get in the gate. This was a little car ride on a track for very little ones. No adults allowed. I explained to Austin that this one wasn't a good idea because Mommy was too big for this ride and he would have to go on it by himself. I thought that would be a deal breaker for him since he is very clingy. (He even freaks out on carousels because I'm standing next to him and apparently that's not close enough.) He was very insistant that he wanted to go on the ride and I asked him a few times if he understood that he'd be riding by himself. He said he still wanted to go on it. So finally I thought, what the heck, let's try it. Who am I to hold him back? Something in his demeanor told me that he understood & didn't care. When we went to buy tickets, he didn't even want to come with us, he wanted to stand in line for the ride by himself. When it was time to get on the ride, he got right up there and had no problem at all going on by himself. We were all prepared to have to stop the ride for him to get off. But boy we underestimated him. He took his car driving very seriously, turning the steering wheel the whole time and had a very serious look on his face as he went around & around the tracks. He eventually would crack a smile as he passed us and we were waving and smiling at him. I stood there totally crying because I was so incredibly proud of him and it was so damn cute. We didn't even have a camera with us, but I did get a short little video on my phone. It was amazing.