Monday, June 01, 2009

Smiley is Walking!

Smiley is now walking. So far his record is 15 steps before falling down.

Here are a bunch of May videos that show how he learned to walk...

His main help was pushing has wagons, especially the lighter one. By the end of May he was very fast, frequently provoking comments from parents at the playgrounds we visit. He also began to enjoy using his wagon to play chase.

During April and May he also would more and more frequently push boxes and his little ice chest around the house. He had started this way back in February, but by the end of May was very fast with these too.

For many weeks Smiley would stand mainly when steering a wagon, to pick it up and point it in a new direction. He learned to do this with the more cumbersome boxes too. (With his latest box we purposefully did not tape shut the open flaps, so while pushing it upside-down he has to take much more care when lifting it over something.)

On May 12th he started to stand up to better manipulate things with his hands, such as string or sticks.

On May 25th he took his first real steps. Before this he would take one step towards an object he wanted and then fall down.

Last night, at 7pm, he invented a new game and started walking.

The back story to this new game began about a week ago. I found out that the Party City store near us (and next to a grocery store we use) gives free helium balloons to kids. So for a few days he was enjoying a balloon, in the air and then on the floor. But the balloon finally got worn out, so last Friday we had bought him a purple ball to push around and roll on top of.

Last night he began to walk while carrying the purple ball. After so many hours walking and running with his wagons, I should have guessed that he would start really walking with the "Dumbo's feather" of carrying something.

After a long time of that game he did some walking without carrying anything. He kept his hands raised, which made me smile. I am unsure if it helps his balance or if he is simply in the habit of having his hands up while doing "walking hands" to practice walking with his parents.

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