This happened last night....

For about half of her life thus far Sophia has been interested in walking. You could instantly bring a smile to her face by offering your hands to hold hers while she "walked" in front of you. Some suggested we not practice with her, so as not to encourage an 8 month walker to chase after. When we told our pediatrician what she was up to at her 9 month visit, he predicted that she would "definitely be an early walker."

Five days after turning one years old, Sophia took her first steps. She was sitting at my feet at a meeting of about ten people at our church. Her Godmother Carolyn nudged me to point out that she had been standing for quite a while. The next thing I knew she came lurching towards me. Carolyn interrupted the meeting by shouting out, "Those were her first steps!" The room celebrated. Joshua was actually in the building, but unfortunately was in another meeting down the hall.

For the next six weeks we would see occasional steps, but crawling was clearly preferred. It seemed more a matter of confidence than mechanics, as she would hold on to one hand and almost run ahead of you, but would drop right down if you let go. Two nights ago I noticed that instead of reaching for me to pick her up, she would put out her hand for my finger to grab onto, so that she could pull herself up and walk alongside me. Yesterday afternoon it was a slow going walk down the beach, as she wanted to use the tripod approach of her legs and my arm.

Last night I had brought up a bucket of paint brushes to touch up our bedroom ceiling, and was pleased when Sophia decided it was a toy box, so her father and I could make dinner next to her while she was entertained.  Without our coaxing she grabbed two of the brushes, stood up, and started walking. 

It was reminiscent of how Sophia's maternal grandmother learned to walk. My Great Aunt Betty gave my Mother clothes pins instead of her fingers to hold on to, and this was just enough security, like the paint brushes, to get her moving. Every time Sophia walked last night, she made sure she had a paint brush in each hand.

After a few strolls, Sophia promptly returned to crawling as her more perfected form of locomotion, but it seems her non-walking days are numbered.