Toddler Trot: And the Winner is...

...NOT Brooke. Oh well. At least she didn't burst into tears. That was my worst case scenario that I'd anticipated when I volunteered in a publicity opportunity today for the Lisa Ross Birth & Women's Center. Amidst all the chaos of the second annual baby crawl and toddler trot in the WBIR studios today, when it was Brooke's turn to run to me, she simply froze. She was probably thinking, "You people are crazy! and Where am I?"

Minutes earlier Brooke had been in a great mood. She was chompin' on goldfish and apples, her brothers were playing with stickers, and she was all smiles. We even practiced a little bit in the waiting room. One of her top priorities these days is to be within three feet of me at all times; so I thought this should be cake. Another mom called my shiny rhinestones on my shirt an unfair advantage. She does love bling. We've got this in the bag!

Since there were so many babies, they had three heats: one for the crawlers and two for the toddlers. The crawler race looked to be over within a few seconds when one baby darted out of the gate. Then as suddenly as he began, he veered to the left and headed for a giant camera. Oh, the drama!

Minutes before we were scheduled to go on, Devin began pinching himself and complained of needing to go to the bathroom. Are you kidding me? The worst is that he usually waits to the last minute to inform me of this. We didn't have much time. But knowing how TV waits for no one, I told him to hold it. Was I destined for a LIVE disaster?

During commercial, I placed Brooke with a stranger from the studio and went to the other side of the mat. She seemed calm and I still had faith she would run into my arms the moment she heard the word, "Go!" But alas, she was distracted by too much flurry. "Run? Run where? Why would I do that?" she seemed to be saying. Sigh. When the race was over I swept her into my arms and covered her with kisses. Isn't being a mom great--no matter who comes in first?!

Just then I remembered my squirming preschooler and we all headed to the restroom. Disaster averted. So please come out and support the Lisa Ross Birth & Women's Center at the Seventh Annual Healthy Walk for Babies on Saturday, June 5 at Victor Ashe Park. If you'd like to see the video for yourself, click here. Thank you, WBIR.