Our
son has been cruising the furniture for well over a month now and he has been
able to pull himself to his feet for quite a while but he has remained hesitant
to walk on his own. In May he finally got the courage to take a step or two
from the table to the couch. Of course, we helped him a bit by spreading them
apart. And, soon after, he was confident enough to hold my hand and make his
way across the play room with his irregular gait.
All
of that changed a couple of weeks ago when I was walking our son to the
kitchen. He had been strangling our fingers for a couple of weeks as his off balance
sway staggered his steps but, this time, he had a loose grip on my index finger
as we made our way across the room. When we turned the corner behind the couch,
he let go and with both hands in the air took five or six steps all by himself
before falling to his bottom with an audible thump.
Last
week, having cancelled my plans for the evening to spend the night with my
family, we were all sitting in the play room when our son decided to crawl over
to the family room. This was nothing unusual as he likes to scurry about the
house. However, this time was different, this time he was determined to walk.
As he cruised along the chair and back into our view he had a wide smile on his
face with a light chuckle echoing across the room.
This
is when he let go of the chair and slowly made his way, step after step, across
the room and into my arms. After an excited laugh and happy hug, he turned
around and made his way back to the chair to repeat the same milestone again and
again over the next twenty minutes. Each time he is getting a little better, a
little steadier, and a little faster. And now he is even able to catch himself
when he gets a little off balance and he can even turn around and change
directions when the mood strikes him. Of course, some of those detours and
changes in direction aren’t completely voluntary.
He
is now comfortable walking both at home and while we are exploring a new place.
It is actually pretty entertaining watching him push his own stroller down the
sidewalk. He is gaining more and more confidence each time that he is on his
feet and he enjoys practicing as much as possible leaving no opportunity lost
to walk across the room, down the sidewalk, or around the property. All the
while with the same wide smile across his face that we saw with that initial
voyage across the room.
No comments:
Post a Comment