She’s been threatening to do it for some time, but today Millie Moo started walking.
Quite proud of herself
Good, steady, not holding into anything, more than a couple of steps WALKING.
She crouches down to pick something up (usually a ball) then she’s off again.
It’s so cute to watch, her little legs stomping up the hallway, half raised zombie arms out the front.
But possibly the cutest part is her teeny voice saying ‘go, go, go, go!’ as she builds up speed and ‘yay!’ as she reaches her destination or lunges into my outstretched arms.
She’s taken her time (no-one is going to rush our Millie, she’s determined to do everything her way), but now she is taking steps I’m a little sad. Crawling about was just about the last baby thing she still did.
Millie is 17 months old and one of the last (maybe the last?) bubs from my mother’s group to find her feet.
She took her time to crawl too, so I knew it would happen on her terms.
Not quite crawling at 12 months, I took Millie to a child’s physiotherapist just to make sure there wasn’t something preventing her from getting mobile.
The physio was great, so reassuring and told me that my headstrong and determined little girl was just a “happy sitter”. The fact she was a premmie meant she was likely going to hit these first milestones a bit later, she said.
It was such a relief.
Armed with little exercises to do at home, Millie seemed to all of a sudden be crawling, standing and cruising around the coffee table.
Why am I telling you this? You can’t help but feel a lot of pressure if your child isn’t doing the things at the exact point in time the books say they should be. They will walk. Surround yourself with people who don’t stress you out about the milestones and take the time to watch your baby discover the world – at their own pace.
A Fisher-Price plastic walker that a friend gave us became Millie’s favourite mode of transport. She loved that ugly plastic thing. It gave her independence and the chance to get off her knees.
Note the wind in her hair, she was going that fast
She will wake tomorrow and her little life will never be the same. She will be able to get from A to B all by herself. She will be able to carry things with her as she goes. She will be able to follow her friends around at playgroup. She won’t be frustrated.
So I guess the talking thing is next. I can already tell Little Miss Chatterbox will have no problems in that department.
The Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Musical Activity Walker is available from ToysRUs
Physio for Kids is in McKinnon, Melbourne