Smack dab in the middle of our massive move, Logan decides to walk. Not the teetering, stiff-legged stumble he’s been practicing, but three or four steps towards either dada or me. That’s right, Logan has officially taken his first steps, and then a few more. The crazy thing is that we are so busy with sorting, packing and cleaning that we aren’t as exuberantly excited as we should be about this monumental occasion.
He looks so cute I could gobble him up as he steadies his stance: feet wide apart, legs slightly crouched, his little pot belly protruding and his arms held in the air above his head stabilizing his balance. His face beams, proud of the accomplishment. He knows he is doing something new, worthy of the applause we give him, but not sure where to go with it.
Walk? I Don’t Need To Walk. I’ve Got My Personal Holder… I Call Her Mama.
Ryan, on the other hand, has no interest in walking. Why should he? He loves his vantage point, quite happy on my hip, tucked into my shoulder thus able to look down at his brother, wondering what all the commotion is about.
A funny thing our nanny said to us as we described Logan’s walking, she said, “Ahh yes, at first new parents can’t wait for their children to walk and talk, but once they do, then all they want them to do is sit down and shut up.” Can you believe that came from our 60+ year old granny-nanny? The cheeky monkey. Of course this didn’t dissuade us from encouraging the boys to walk, everything from keeping them in bare feet for better traction to holding their hands and walking behind them.
Learning to walk is such a demanding task that it’s not unusual for a baby to lose some previous motor skills temporarily. Researchers have found, for example, that new walkers revert to double-handed reaching even though they’ve mastered single-handed grabbing months before. I think I have recently noticed this in Logan. He seemed to have mastered picking up Cheerios with his fingers, but all of a sudden he is back at grabbing them with both hands and stuffing as many as he can into his mouth. Or maybe he doesn’t want to share any with his brother. Anyhoo, the theory is that the brain needs to reorganize itself as a new skill is learned. After a few weeks, when arms are no longer held high during walking, toddlers return to one-handed reaching.
The World Is My Oyster…
But does this mean my little Logie is now the dreaded t-word? Please say it isn’t so! And does this mean that while Logan is a toddler, Ryan is still a baby?! This is too much for me to take. Where have my babies gone?! When did this happen? I’m not ready for this!
Hmmm… I guess it would be rather naughty of me to sort of trip Logan while he’s trying to walk, in an useless attempt at postponing the inevitable? Okay, Okay! It was just a thought!
more more more blogs with babies walking soon, we miss them, your fab blogs