My daughter (thirteen and a half months) is on the verge of walking. Then again, she has been since Christmas, so we're cautious about getting our hopes up. Cruising, walking while her hands are held, standing unassisted... all those she can do. She can even walk with just one hand being held, although she tends to start grabbing for the other hand if this keeps up for more than a few steps.
For the past two weeks, she's been faking us out. She will stand, unassisted, and stare at her destination, poised to take that first step... and then she'll drop down to all fours and crawl. Alternatively, she will might be just out of reach of her desired support, so she will dive towards it, and as she falls she takes a step to propel herself closer. Since she's making no attempt to keep her balance, I don't think that counts!
My son walked at fourteen months, which is late-ish, but not remarkably late. At the time, it seemed like an eternity, because I had a number of friends who had babies within a month of his birth, and all of them were walking by ten months. I used to joke that he was thrown off-balance by his disproportionately large head... perhaps this is true for my daughter as well! Her doctor seems to think that her old hip issues might delay her a little, which isn't something I'd thought about. I forget she ever had hip dysplasia most of the time.
For the most part though, the beauty of the second time around is that I'm less fussed by the wait for those first steps. She'll get there. I'm getting impatient, because she weighs over twenty pounds and that's a lot to carry, but on the plus side, I am stronger than I've ever been! Still, with the warmer weather arriving, it would be great if she could run around and join in the outdoor activities more fully. And there's a part of me that frets that she might take after me and not walk until she's almost two!
It does, however, look like she's beaten both me and her brother. Today, she turned away from me and took a definite step towards him. She then pitched herself forward onto the stair we were sitting on, but she held her balance while taking that step.
As far as I'm concerned, that counts. She's not quite a walker yet, but we've had the first step.
It totally counts! Congratulations! I can just imagine her little motor cortex struggling to make that crazy leap. Bun Bun is learning to stand alone, and it's all so perfect and amazing.
ReplyDeleteI've encountered a bunch of parents who say things like, oh, my kid is 11 or 12 or 13 or whatever months old, and no, he's not walking, but we're not worrying about it. Clearly there's a ton of pressure surrounding this issue! Stay chill, mama!
Sadly, no more steps today, but she's still pushing her own little boundaries.
DeleteI remember with my son, there was just this three month period when all the babies his age were walking, and I kept being asked: "Is he walking yet?" It felt so depressing having to say "No." I didn't mind him not walking, but I hated that he was defined by an inability, rather than by what he could do!
Fortunately, my daughter's peers are a less precocious bunch. Go, Bun Bun! I hope she's appropriately proud of herself!