Somersault

Today Aria taught herself to do a somersault.  I was doing some laundry and Aria kept yelling from the other room, "Mommy, come watch me!"  You never know what you're going to see when Aria makes that request and I certainly wasn't expecting a somersault today.  The only connection I can make is from a couple weeks ago when her friends Caleb and Sophia were over at our house showing off their somersaults, learned in gymnastics.  Aria tried to do it when they were, but couldn't.  We haven't done them or even talked about them since, but all of a sudden today she was doing it.  And, believe me, she made great use of her new skill today.

I think my favorite part about the somersaults is her huge smile.  She is so proud of herself for figuring it out.  I don't think she is quite able to express verbally her sense of accomplishment, but I can tell that she is extra proud that she figured it out on her own without any help from Mommy or Daddy.  Seeing that beaming smile helps me realize how valuable it is to let kids do and learn for themselves.  It will mean so much more to Aria to make discoveries on her own than to have them forced upon her.  It was such a simple lesson for me, but one with excellent value moving forward for the rest of her life.