Marc and I got to spend some one on one time with the kids today. He and Leo went to a special Papa-enfant morning at the Carrefour while Clara and I went to the skating rink at 1000 De La Gauchetiere. She's been showing an interest in learning how to skate all winter. We saw two outdoor rinks in NYC and she begged both times to give it a try. Based on my one skating experience with Marc I knew I'd be the one teach our girl how to skate (Marc's feet are too weird to fit in skates) so this morning seemed like a great opportunity.

She was so excited all morning. I had no idea how it would pan out, I mean I haven't skated since before she was born! We rented skates and I'd brought along her bicycle helmet. Clara's little size 10 skates were just plain cute. I got her all laced up and ready to go not even thinking about our first challenge - walking. She wobbled and giggled but got her balance pretty quickly so we headed up the stairs to the rink. To be honest, the first 5 minutes were awful. I didn't think there was any hope, she was all over the place, I was holding her up and her legs were flailing every which way. But bit by bit she reigned in her limbs and started to figure out how to keep her balance. We used the push bar for awhile and then Clara decided she wanted to try just holding my hand. Next thing you knew she let go and took a few tentative steps on her own! All I can say is I'm astounded at the amount of progress a kid can make in an hour.

Here is a photo essay of our morning:

Chanting: "I'm going skating, I'm going skating"

Getting the hang of it

Using the hand rail

I can do it...

Sort of!

And here is the fruit of her labor. Sadly I haven't figured out how to turn video around so just tilt your head to the left and click on the picture below :)