My Monkey is officially a Toddler!!

My little Monkey started walking this week - such a bittersweet milestone! After watching him for what seemed like forever working up to this - pulling up, standing holding on to things, walking holding on to furniture, gradually standing for a few seconds on his own, suddenly my little guy is MOBILE, and man is he making up for lost time! He took his first official steps a week ago on Thursday - three tentative steps, then a stop (balance check), and then three more steps before dropping down onto his bum. I called my husband right away, and hoped, hoped, hoped that he would be able to see a repeat performance soon, as he was just on his way home from work. I feel guilty sometimes because I get to stay at home with the Monkey, and usually see most of the "firsts." Sure enough, there were several repeat performances that night, some a little longer - four, then five steps, but then other attempts barely getting off the ground. Of course, the more tired the Monkey gets, the more he walks like a drunken sailor, so there comes a point where further progress in one day is just NOT going to happen! But it's amazing what a week of practice will do - he's now doing circles around the house, usually heading into forbidden rooms like the dining room, which until now, has held little to no appeal for him. This, of course, means it's time for more babyproofing, or else I'm just going to be saying "no" like a broken record.

There are moments when I wish this milestone had come just a bit later, so that I could appreciate yet another fleeting aspect of babydom. Yet I can't help but just sit back and admire him as he wobbles towards me, arms extended, with the biggest, proudest, smile lighting up his face! What an amazing accomplishment this is, when you stop to think about it. Just a year ago, this little boy could only eat, sleep, and poop. Now, the world is wide open to him - amazing, yet scary at the same time. And the learning process is so fascinating - how is it that our little ones generally learn all of these skills in roughly the same order, at roughly the same time? How incredible is it to watch their brains and bodies at work? And no wonder he sleeps so well at night - he's quite the busy little guy!