Skip to main content

Milestone: Steps towards Steps

Soren has gotten much better at standing up on his own. He will now stand up unaided for an extended period of time, even if he is in the middle of an empty space.

He used to stand up only when he was right next to a table or chair, probably so that he could grab it if he felt unstable at any moment. But now, there is no longer the need for that mental safety. He is brave and strong enough to stand all on his own.

This is such a common occurrence now that I even managed to run and grab the camera and snap several photos last night before he sat down.

***

On Valentines Day he made a very humorous and disastrous attempt at walking. He was playing with a flimsy doll stroller at his friend's house. It looked very much like his walker but it was not built to support any weight at all. He was standing up, holding the handles, and he took a few confident steps forward, completely expecting the stroller to sustain him. With each step it slipped further away from him until he fell flat on his face.

Fortunately, he wasn't hurt or upset. He just didn't want to try again.

***

Beginning on this past Sunday, he has started standing up from a crawl or sit without any assistance. He will just put both feet flat on the floor and then use his hands to push himself up to standing.

I am completely unsure as to why he does this. It never seems to be motivated by a desire to pick up or reach something. He will be sitting on the floor and suddenly decide he wants to be standing.

Sometimes it doesn't work out as well as he plans. But he just gets up again and keeps on trying.

***

And then today: We were visiting our friends April and Sequoia when Soren took a very tiny, halting first step. He was standing in the middle of Sequoia's toys, watching her run very capably all over the room.

He was standing with his left foot slightly ahead of his right foot, looking very intently at the empty space ahead of him. Then he lifted his right foot off the floor (just barely) and inched it forward to meet his left foot.

I gasped.

And he promptly dropped to his knees and crawled at lightning speed towards whatever he was interested in.

***

I suppose the point behind all this rambling is that I am excited about his developing motor skills. And I, like everyone else, keep thinking that he will be walking any day now. I'm increasingly sure that he is capable, just lacking in motivation. His crawl is so fast, even when he is using his forearms instead of his hands (because his hands are occupied with books).

But one day it'll just happen. I'll be so proud ... and then sad about how grown up my little baby is.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surrounded by Love

One of my greatest worries about having four children was that I would not be able to welcome and love my new baby as well as I had the others.  Now that he is here, I feel that he is perhaps the most welcomed and best loved of all my sons.  More on that in a moment. I struggled to bond with Leif in utero, in part because pregnancy was old hat to me and in part because life was busy with too many other things.  The new miracle  growing inside of me was the most normal thing about my life.  There were a few good moments that helped me prepare mentally: doing guided meditations during Christmas vacation, my blessingway on January 6th, and a really good conversation I had with Scott about my hopes and worries.  But mostly, my mind was elsewhere. And then there was the birth.  I should have known that it would be a totally unique experience and that it would prepare me for this totally unique child. Needless to say, I'm crazy about the little guy. ...
1 comment
Read more

What Works for Us: Room Time

I've decided to do a new series of posts on how I make parenting work for us. Every parent does it differently--which is great!--but I have a hard time keeping my discoveries to myself. The things I do may not work for anyone else but I want to record them and remember them. Hopefully, it will also help me vent my soap-box-y-ness so that I'm not always imposing my ideas on other people. That will be what "What-Works-for-Us Posts" are about. One of the things that we have always done, but has made a HUGE difference in the move from one to two children, is Room Time . When Soren was 6 months old, I started having him play alone (in a safe place) every day for a few minutes. At first it was only five minutes in the port-a-crib but we quickly worked up to fifteen, then thirty. At that time, I used those precious minutes to do housework or relax on the couch. When I was pregnant with Carl, Soren would play alone for about an hour in his room and I would usually tak...
2 comments
Read more

Favorites

1. I have enjoyed the sunshine this week.  It has been perfect autumn weather.  Our kindergarten walks have been very pleasant.  I love to see the brown and yellow leaves falling all around me.  I told the kids that when they caught a falling leaf, they caught a wish in their hand.  It's harder than it sounds!  Today, one fell right on my head!  I decided to count that. 2. Monday was my brother Timothy's last P-day of his mission!  We chatted on gmail for about an hour that morning.  I am really excited for him to come home! 3. I made an apple pie for FHE.  It was amazing. 4. Scott went on a father-son date with Soren on Wednesday night.  They went to the U of U parking lot and wrote down all the license plates they saw.  When they got home, Soren was very excited to tell me about the snazzy sports car they saw as well as the license plate from England. 5. I gave myself permission to take a nap every day this week. ...
1 comment
Read more