Tumble

This afternoon as we left the house to get Mommy's apres-snack/pre-dinner latte, Dexter tumbled down the 6 steps from our back door to the backyard. He had taken the first step without holding onto the railing and as I was going to grab hold of his hand, he took another step, lost his footing, and rolled on his side down the rest of the steps to the ground. Thinking back on it now, he really fell like a pro - he tucked his head and arms in and just rolled. The look on his face was total confusion. Needless to say, when he came to rest at the bottom of the stairs, he was not happy about what had just happened. Neither was I! I was terrified but didn't want to cause any further alarm. I picked him up and hugged him, rubbed his little body, and told him that he was going to be OK, it was just a fall. After a couple minutes of screaming, he walked to the garage and got in the car, no problem. The problem came when we returned home and it was time to climb back up the stairs. Dexter refused. I thought it was important that he face his fear so I "assisted" him by walking right behind him to make him feel safe and "helping" him put one foot in front of the other. We were successful and he is happily running around and shooting hoops right now. I'm just so relieved that it wasn't worse.