Blue learns to stand alone.

As Blue began to approach his first birthday, HandyMan and I began to wonder when he would learn to walk. Blue had been crawling very well for 3 months and seemed to be very steady on his feet, but he had made no attempt to even stand without holding on. Having spent a significant amount of time around toddlers, I was content for Blue to wait a while to learn how to walk, but HandyMan was ready and excited – we just had to wait for Blue to be ready.

We didn’t have to wait long!

On the day of Blue’s First Birthday party, he took his very first steps – for one of his uncles (I’m trying not to hold it against him- LOL). He only took a couple at a time, but that was enough. Each day after that Blue got a little steadier and would take a few more steps before losing his balance and falling. It was hard to watch him fall so many times, but I knew that if I caught him each time he fell, he would never gain his balance. Slowly he got better and started taking more and more steps without falling. And then, just last week, he decided that he preferred walking to crawling! Blue is still falling quite a bit, but now he stands back up and walks instead of just crawling to his destination.

I love watching Blue learn new “tricks” and encourage him as he tries, but I must admit that this new trick has made me a little sad. You see, in my mind, walking is the developmental milestone that separates Blue from being a baby and being a toddler. And I wasn’t ready to have a toddler. I knew, of course, that it was inevitable, but I was content to for Blue to stay a baby for a little while longer. However, Blue had other ideas and now that he is walking, I know that running and climbing won’t be far behind and I am SO not ready for that!

HandyMan and I have taken some video of Blue learning to walk, so here’s a short video of some of Blue’s first steps.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_teWyCCAVY[/youtube]

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