she walks!

it's been a week now of dd toddling --- sometimes unsteadily, ok --- but it's a definite milestone marking her preference for walking over crawling.

the short chronicle
my parents came up and were amazed at the difference a two-week absence made. when they were last up dd was just beginning to take a couple of tentative steps. then it gradually became more (as documented on this blog). but something must've clicked last week. it occurred i think when we visited a friend and her son (who's 2 weeks younger than dd) last tuesday (27 march). for the first time, dd didn't mind walking in front of other people (read: non-family members), and was happy to toddle for a few steps here and there, clutching food and/or toys. when we came home from that visit, leah seemed more confident and walked a lot more than usual. when dh came home from work he noticed that her demeanour had changed and she seemed very happy about walking.

then the next day (28th) when we visited our local mommy-&-baby fitness centre, dd toddled into the studio from the little play area outside, all on her own volition. she was still a bit unsteady, and would fumble to her hands and knees after several steps but at least she was brave enough to venture on her own.

when my parents came up on the friday (30th), they were very pleased to see that she could toddle loads, and would even toddle to look for them wherever they were in the flat.

then the next 'breakthrough' came on tuesday (3 april), when dd seemed to ONLY walk the whole day. in fact, she did laps around the sofa until my parents wondered if she would get dizzy from walking so fast so much. it was as if she was practising! but that was the day i think she decided that she truly preferred to walk than crawl.

this is not to say that she doesn't ever crawl. she still does, but for a purpose, e.g. if it's a short distance to grab something and it's not worth the effort to stand up and toddle over. or if she thinks that it might be faster to crawl. nonetheless, these moments are becoming fewer.

and once again, it's a sweet-sour feeling, to see that my little baby is growing up.