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Stupid Image Host. Archives have broken links.
2002-08-27 - 3:45 a.m.
I took Chloe to the state fair yesterday. We ate some corndogs, some fresh roasted corn, and shared a deep fried twinkie (600 calories). She's afraid of suspension bridges, and has trouble walking across 2nd floor catwalks at the outdoor mall, hates escalators, and open windowed elevators. I have to hold her hands, and she squeezes them so tight they turn white. She and I were walking around, riding various rides on the midway, sometimes together, but others, she'd ask to ride by herself. She's a big girl. She and I walked by this funhouse that was four stories high, and had an outdoor crazy bridge (rope suspension bridge that shook) and a long tube that you had to get to via a stairwell that was made of clear plexiglas. She walked by it and didn't ask to go on it, three, maybe four times. She'd stare at it, and look over my shoulder, around me, when we'd put it behind us, each time. Finally, she asked if she could go on it, and I said "Are you sure? It's big...do you want to?" She said, yes, and I didn't ask her if she wanted me along, I just gave her her tickets and off she went... one step at a time ...slowly. She held the rope that ran along the bridge, pursing her lips, and I could see them, tight, her eyes focused on the rope, as kids of all colors, shapes, and sizes bounded past her, oblivious to her struggle. I sat there, staring straight up, and other people would walk by and a few stopped, and watched with me...seeing her and caught up in the drama of her slow, methodical trek across the suspension bridge. She finally made it across, didn't look back and headed down the slide, round and round spiraling down to the anxious arms of her daddy. "My baby did so good! You're such a big girl!!! Do you want to go again?"I asked. She thought about it for a second...(a brief one) and answered back.. "Nope. I did it already."
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