Hadley Falling
Hadley loves to run. Even on uneven pavement. This combination likely leads to a fall. Perhaps two year olds are prone to fall anyway, but this ensures it.
The other day, running around Temple Square in Salt Lake City, she fell, and I watched it like in slow motion.
As soon as her foot caught a lip and her body was certain to hit the ground, she put both arms out with hands up. Her elbows were stretched as wide as possible and her hands straight up about as high as her head. Reminiscent of a sky diver trying to slow his fall in order to group up and make rings or something.
Then, at the last second, she reached her hands as far forward as possible, far above her head, and had them impact the ground first. But instead of scraping and sliding against the pavement, they stuck firm. Her elbows then touched down and her weight was transferred on to her arms. As her body continued forward, her hands continued backwards toward her body, slowing her decent. Her head comes down and her nose gently kisses the back of her hands. Yes, that's right, the stretch and slow was perfectly timed so that her face stops on her hands instead of kissing the ground.
She immediately pops up and continues to run, with a smile on her face, as though nothing unusual just happened. Certainly nothing she wasn't in complete control of.
I've never seen anything as graceful in my life.