Steppin' Up

On the morning of April 25, my little boy took his first steps.  It was the cutest little thing I had ever seen. Before that, he had been able to stand unsupported for a few seconds at a time, but nothing very long at all. That morning, I was in the kitchen fixing breakfast when I heard Jordan call out, "Babe, come in here!" I peeked my head around the corner and saw my little guy standing by himself, smiling proudly, wearing blue footy PJ's covered in monkeys and bananas. He looked so excited. All of a sudden, he took four steady steps! I was so shocked that I yelped...or maybe it wasn't a yelp. More like, "EEEEAAAUGH!" He swiftly face planted right after that and took very few steps for a few days.

One week later, his walking was sporadic and clumsy. Lots of toppling over and falling. It broke my mama heart to see my baby have to fall over and over and over. He obviously wasn't in pain due to the lack of crying, but it still made me sad.

The following weekend after that was Mother's Day. His mode of transportation was about 80% walking and 20% crawling, with very few falls.

And now? Crawling is a thing of the past. He is a full on walker. He has mastered holding objects, playing with toys, drinking from his sippy cup, and even holding a bucket over his head while walking.

I have to admit, it's been pretty great to have a little biped. He is better at entertaining himself now that he can happily walk all around the house. It's so nice to easily set him down on the ground standing, opposed to having to lay him somewhere and set him on his butt. He's less clingy and doesn't need to be held all the time. It's been liberating! But a small part of me cringes at his new ability. I miss the sweet sound of his hands slapping our tile floor while he crawled in the kitchen, or how he would crawl up to our lap and paw at our leg if he wanted a bite of whatever we were eating. There are few things more adorable than seeing a baby crawl in excitement toward something. I'm sad that it is over.