ansel and his shoes

I didn't really think about putting shoes on Ansel until fairly recently. I think I waited a little too long to introduce them because Ansel screamed every time I tried to put shoes on him and didn't stop screaming until I took them off. (At first I thought I might be hurting him, but I tried shoes that were REALLY big for him and he was still upset.) With the weather getting nicer, we really needed Ansel to wear shoes so he could run around outside with us. And gradually he warmed up to the idea of wearing shoes. The first time I could really get him to wear them, he just stood there. He wouldn't walk at all. I held his hand and guided him a little... still wouldn't walk. Anyway, I persisted and I do have a little boy who wears shoes now. He knows that he cannot go outside without shoes so when he wants to go outside he will bring his shoes to me. (I don't know how he can ALWAYS find them.) One time Isabel was napping and he brought me his shoes and I said we needed to wait for her to wake up before we could go outside to play. Shortly thereafter Isabel woke up and came downstairs and Ansel immediately brought me his shoes. We have all really enjoyed being outside, but I think Ansel has enjoyed it more than all of us.... the new freedom.