The first time I took her to the zoo this year, she asked to ride a horsey. I said maybe another day, kind of putting her off in the assumption that she was just saying that to say it. But she kept talking about it while we were there, so I told her we could but we had to wait until Daddy was with us. Not long after that, Daddy told me he was taking Izzie to the zoo, and I gave him explicit instructions that she was not to ride a horse without Mommy being there. She came home without riding a horse, but still talking about it.
Fast forward a week or two. Isabel told Grammy all about riding a horse. A big black one. By herself. It went really fast. What an imagination! I had my doubts about her riding one, since last year she wouldn't even go close enough to pet one's nose, but I was starting to wonder if maybe this really was a big deal to her. Well, Daddy and Izzie went to the zoo again this last Tuesday. The first thing she said when she walked in the house -- "I NO ride a horse, Mommy! Later!". Apparently she asked again and Daddy told her later when Mommy was with them.
So, today we all went to the zoo. And she talked about the horse ride the whole way there. And it was the first thing she wanted to do when we walked in. There was a bit of a line, and the whole time we were waiting I talked to her about what it was going to be like, and we picked out the horse that she wanted to ride (thankfully the smallest horse there ever was--smart girl). She told me she wanted to ride the "Mommy" horse, and I assured her that this little black and white pony named Bandit was indeed a Mommy (whatever it took to convince her he was trustworthy, right?). I had joked with Bryan that at least the tickets didn't have an expiration date, and we both laughed because we really thought she wouldn't do it.
And suddenly it was our turn. She didn't look nervous or scared. She smiled and sat on the horse like she does it every day. She was a little apprehensive when the cowgirl told her to hold onto the horn of the saddle, but she let go of Mommy and grabbed on. The horse started up and she kept smiling and looking ahead, hardly glancing at me, her bitty little body bouncing around like she was an ant on a trampoline. "We follow that horse!" "Whoa, it's bouncy!" She loved every minute of it.
And when it was over, this Mommy cried behind her sunglasses. My little Isabel grew up in front of me in just one second. She wasn't my tiny baby any more. She was a big, grown, independent, brave girl trying a new thing and doing great. I was so proud of her! I'm not sure why this moment hit me like it did--lately I feel like I haven't got as emotional about her milestones--but something about this horse ride did it. I just got to see all the moments in the future where I am going to be so infinitely proud of her, and got to be just a little sad for the tiny baby we left behind.
On a completely necessary side note, a llama spit in Bryan's mouth while we were there. IN his mouth. He blames me. Izzie always wants to feed the goats and llamas, but is too nervous to actually put the food in their mouths, so Mommy does it. And Mommy takes issue with the big, greedy animals that push the other ones out of the way to hog all of the food. So Mommy always maneuvers around to get food to the underdog. However, in this instance, the head llama was not impressed by this, and chose to show his disapproval by pushing and spitting at said underdog. The push was successful, but head llama clearly can't aim the spit well as it hit my husband who was standing five feet away. Did I mention in the mouth? Bryan was not impressed by my laughing, and still says it's my fault, but I feel like I accomplished a small amount of justice today in the form of llama food.
