Jack Has New Shoes

Jack got a new pair of shoes today. It was a big deal because it was the first time he got a pair of shoes because he needed them, not just because they were cute. He needed them for several reasons. The first being that, socks just aren't enough to keep his feet warm in the cold weather. The second is that he pulls off EVERY pair of shoes that are elastic, so we had to get some with velcro. And most importantly, he needed some traction for all of this crawling he is doing around here. He has been slipping and sliding all over the hardwoods and the tile...no longer a problem! The best part of the shoe shopping was choosing a size. I always knew that Jack's feet looked a tad bit small compared to his body. But, I have really noticed when I've tried to put shoes on him in the past. He always had about half an inch in the toe too much, even when the shoe size was clearly his age. So, I knew that I needed to find some shoes that ran small and had velcro and good traction. I expressed my needs to the clerk at the store and then, of course, she asked, "how old is he?" I responded, "he will be 9 months on Sunday, but trust me that doesn't matter". She gave me a pair of velcro shoes with traction, sized 9 months-12 months. Again, I stressed the fact that his age REALLY didn't matter in this case. Reluctantly, she found me another pair of velcro shoes with traction, sized 6 months- 9 months. She tried to convince me that they would be too small, but I assured her that would not be an issue. When I got home, Jack immediately tried on his new shoes. He touched them, tried to reach them to his mouth, and then pushed off into a crawl with them. Perfect!...except I looked down and sure enough, there was that half an inch too much in the toe. We even went a size down and still TOO BIG! Jack didn't even give it a second thought....he loved them! We went downstairs to model his new shoes for Daddy. Jack crawled up and down Daddy's office like he had never crawled before...he was so proud. I whispered the"too big" situation to Daddy, in hopes of Jack not hearing. Before long, Daddy was searching "small baby feet" on the Internet. Luckily, there seems to be no research that causes concern for us. However, we have really come to the realization that he doesn't have much hope to stay in the 90th percentile for the rest of his life. Regardless, we love him just the same, new shoes and all!