first mile

I believe Ada ran her first mile last night. I say 'believe' because we weren't measuring the distance and she was not running a route we normally run, but she was running, and running, and running, and running. Running so much that Elliot and I were having to scamper along behind her to keep up.

All this running happened while we were at the Padres game. She really loved the game, and the details of all the funny things she did while watching the game may make their way into a future posting; but the really great Ada moment came when we finally talked her into making our way out to the Park at the Park.

For those unfamiliar with Petco Park, there is a large park, with a hill, and a mini baseball diamond out beyond the stands. If you stand on top of the hill you can watch the game live, otherwise, they have a HUGE screen on the back of the batter's eye showing the TV broadcast. This is pretty much the most awesome thing in the world for parents.

Once we made it out of our section and up the stairs to the main concourse Ada decided to run. So she ran from section 109 around the right field side of the stadium to the Park in the Park where she found a group of kids rolling down the hill. Ada of course had to join in the fun, so she managed to trudge up the hill and then tried REALLY REALLY hard to roll down the hill. Except Ada lacks one very essential quality necessary for rolling down any hill - the ability to let go. So she tried to roll down but her fear of losing control got the best of her and she never quite got there. She did however master scooting down the hill, and walking/running down the hill (which was no small feat as the hill was steep and the grass was wet).

Next, we managed to coerce Ada into checking out the OTHER side of the hill, and the mini baseball diamond. She wasn't all that impressed with the other side of the hill, but as soon as she saw the mini diamond she was IN LOVE. She sprinted towards the field and found the closest entry gate. Ada was easily the smallest kid involved in the mini game. In fact, she maybe came up to the waist of the next smallest kid out there - but this didn't stop our little runner. Nope. She started out at third base and ran to the pitchers rubber, walked it like a balance beam and then "jumped" off of the rubber and headed for first. Then she took a lap of the outfield, back to third, pitchers rubber, through the pitching traffic, back to third, across to first, and out the right field gate. Phew. I'm tired just writing about it. Had she realized that running through the gate was the end to her mini baseball diamond fun I'm sure she would not have made such a GLARING mistake, but that's the reason I'm the Mom and she's the toddler.

Next we headed to the Padres store to look for possible gifts to bring up North to Ada's cousins (sorry guys we didn't find anything). Ada loved the store almost as much as she loved the mini baseball diamond. She found the big foam fingers like a heat seeking missile and proceeded to entertain everyone in the store with her sprinting around with the foam finger on her tiny hand.

After we managed to drag Ada out of the store with a monkey and a foam finger in tow Ada started the last leg of her mile.

We left the park with Ada up in my arms but she quickly decided that she wanted to walk. So from Tony Gywnn Way (just outside the park) to our parking spot in the San Diego Convention Center, Ada RAN. It is probably important to note that Ada took turns between running, wandering, and jogging along with the foam finger practicing her Gretzky pump. She did this the ENTIRE way back to our car. I tried to help her down the stairs to the parking garage - no dice. We offered her a lift from the stairs to the car - no dice. Nope. She was in it for the long haul. Well almost the long haul. She ended up tripping herself about four feet from our car and in a moment of unusual whininess she laid there crying until Elliot picked her up. Thus ending her miles of running.

Needless to say she was asleep before we hit the freeway. Thank goodness for running!