Alexa, Christopher, and I started our walk about 20 minutes before sunset.
A&C are on walk training. I've graduated them from hand holding along the busy roads to walking on their own in front of me or beside me. It is kind of like training the dogs. Every time they get too close to the edge, I shush them back. Every time that we cross a road safely, we jump up and down and shout on the other side. It is great fun, actually.
So, tonight, we headed out towards the bridge that runs over an incredibly polluted river. The kids like to look over the edge and see if they can recognize any of the garbage or dead fish floating by. That, too, is actually great fun.
But tonight, we decided to take a walk in the other direction. Alexa didn't really give a reason, she just turned around and walked that way, and we followed. Soon we found 6 chickens, each in their own cage on the side of the road. Tonight's dinner at the local carendaria. We stop to yell too loudly 'hello chickens' until they give in and start clucking back. I had to pry them away from the chickens with the promise of many, many chickens up the road. Reluctantly, and not really believing me, they came along.
Within a few steps, the chickens were forgotten. Alexa was today's ringleader. She decided that running would be the best way to go, so we started jogging down the street. Then, we had to yell hello to every dog, cat, person, car, motorbike, and bicycle that we passed, or passed us. Alexa has nearly caused more than a few accidents by waving wildly and yelling hello at passing motorcycles. She looks too cute doing it to ignore, so they start looking at her and waving back. Lex seems to take a little too much delight in them weaving to avoid an accident in the process.
The sun was just about to set and we reached the 1/2 mile stretch of mostly empty road. We stared at the road for a few minutes. Alexa didn't want to go unless we would race her. I think that Chris and I both wanted to race, but we knew that Alexa would beg for it, so we let her. Alexa's vocabulary and frustration limited her argument to 'Uya, daddy, run, run, come on' then pretending like she was starting. And us pretending that we didn't notice.
Finally, we gave in and started chasing her. Lex began yelling 'baby run, baby run' while she cruised down the street. It was like watching Sea Biscuit run. She was the closest that i've ever seen anyone come to putting literally 100% of their energy into anything. She lacked fear completely, charging down little hills to get more speed. Her chance of a wipe out had to be more than 50% just based on how much faster she was moving than seemed physically possible for a body that small and new. I couldn't try to stop her though, it would have ruined everything, even if it might have saved some stitches.
It wouldn't have been possible to convince her to try harder, there was no more to give, and she wouldn't stop giving it. Christopher and I chanted "run baby run" to her still screamed "baby run, baby run." We finally got to the end of the road, and Alexa tried to say that she wanted to keep going. That only lasted until she realized that she had to pee. She tried to say that she wanted to run home, but seemed to realize that it wasn't a great plan.
It took a minute to convince them both that the grass on the side of the road was a better place to pee than in their pants. Liberated by stripping in public, they decided that running without pants through the grass was the only thing that could come next. After i chased them down and talked them into getting dressed again, we pretended that i was some crazy guy chasing them down the road, threatening to 'get you kids'.
We stopped to see the last of the sunset when a bike approached us. Alexa started yelling 'that's a bike!' Christopher joined in. The guy seemed to try to convince them that it wasn't a bike at all, because no matter what he said, they yelled louder "that's bike" at the guy. Realizing that they had him on the ropes, they alternated between screaming about the bike and laughing uncontrollably. Finally, the guy seemed to admit that, yes, it was a bike, and rode off. Alexa and Christopher then reenacted the whole scene for me as if i hadn't been there to see it.
At the next stop, we told a man holding an animal that it was a cat. He didn't seem surprised. We talked a few lines of cat talk to the cat and man, and then continued home. We told a few dogs that they were dogs. Some we even had to argue the point with. We informed the chickens that they were chickens and said 'hello chickens' in what seemed like a brittish accent.
By now it was dark, and the videokes had already begun their incessant blare. So, we stopped and had a dance outside of one. We crossed the road, very carefully, and jumped up and down and yelled hooray because we made it. The brats started mimicking me by wagging their finger and telling me to get away from the edge of the road. We finished the last stretch with me being the monster that wanted to eat them and them screaming for help.
Every day I get to do some version of this. Every day, i ask them to stop growing up. Every day they laugh at the idea. run, babies, run.
The photographer probably isn't up for any child safety awards this year.
