Let's Go For a Walk

Big news around here. Gunner is walking! Well, Gunner can walk. He normally chooses not to. We practice with him in the usual way. We stand him up and coax, encourage and plead with him to give it a try. Because "we know you can do it!" "Come on, little guy!" "Come to Mommy!" And then he gets his balance, lets go of our hands, takes that little step, and then another one, and pretty soon, he is hobbling around, with his arms flailing in every direction. He has absolutely zero control over his direction. In fact, if we send him in a straight line, when he is aimed right at his daddy, his body just veers its little self a completely different direction, and pretty soon, he finds himself landing on his nose. Again. And then we cheer, and we act like there has never been a more exciting event, ever. And no one has ever been more proud of any accomplishment. And he smiles.

And then we start it all over again.

He is getting better at it, and he knows it. Little by little, he becomes more daring. This morning, I left him cruising around the kitchen chairs while I puttered around the house. I walked in on him standing in the middle of the kitchen. I could tell that he had a goal, and he was getting up the guts to go ahead and walk right on over to it. He was concentrating so hard. And then, of course, I interrupted him, and I had to cheer and praise him, and rush right over to him and tell him how awesome he is. So he never made it to whatever it was that was exciting enough to let go of the kitchen chairs and walk across the room on his own, with no coaxing and pleading.

I'm loving this. It is so much fun to watch him discover, and to see how he learns so quickly, and to see how independent he is becoming. It will take me some getting used to. I remember when he was learning how to sit up from his army-crawl. He would be crawling around the room, and then I would look over at him, and all the sudden he was sitting up. It surprised me every time for a good week. Especially those times I walked in on him when he was in his crib and he was just sitting there in the corner, looking at me like, "Hey, Mommy. I'm sitting here, and I can't figure out how this happened." I seriously almost tripped over my own feet when I found him standing in the middle of the kitchen this morning.

I'm sure I will get used to it quickly enough. And then I'll probably be pining away for those days when he not only didn't stand or walk, but didn't run all over the house. Like I already pine for my sweet chubby 4-month old who was just happy to see me, and happy to be held, and happy to play with any toy I happened to throw his direction. I really loved that stage. I love this one, too. There really is almost nothing more exciting than watching my baby take his first steps.

Gunner's first steps: Sept. 18 (the day after his 11-month day)