Friday, January 23

Mobility & Communication

Charlotte has been taking an unassisted step here or there for a couple of months now. She has been cruisng along holding onto furniture since October. We kept hearing things like "Oh, she'll be walking by Christmas." or "Wow, she only has a couple more weeks before she's running!" Well, Christmas came and went and walking didn't even seem to be a thought in her mind. She has been very content with her crawling capabilities.

Tuesday I noticed that she seemed to want to walk more. Then, Wednesday, after I picked her up from daycare, we got home and I put her down on the floor. She was standing up holding onto a chair in the kitchen. I turned away to look at something on the counter, turned back around, and there she was, poised and ready for action. She let go of the chair and took two steps in a row before falling on her face. It was thrilling to watch. That evening after her bath, Judd and I sat on the floor of her room and had her "practice" walking back and forth. I think we're still a ways away from having a full blown walker, but it is fun to watch the progress she's making.

Pointing has become Charlotte's communication method of choice. She points to everything. We've had some key lime cookies on top of the refrigerator. The other evening, I was holding her while I ate one of the cookies. I gave her a little bite of it. The next day we passed the refrigerator and she pointed straight to the box. It is nice that she is beginning to let us know what she wants. However, in the future I have a feeling Judd and I will sound like a broken record, "Use your words!".

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

I had to laugh the way you wrote how she fell on her face, and then the next sentence was "It was thrilling to watch" - I'm sure you did not mean the falling on her face part. :) But that is very exciting that she's taking some steps! You will probably find she has more bumps & bruises once she is fully walking. At least that was what we experienced with both of ours.

Sara said...

I hope she'll walk a few steps for her Grammie and Grandad next weekend. Grandad will be driving to Atlanta from South Carolina (he'll be on a business trip this next week). I'll fly in from Harrisburg for the big 1st birthday. Can hardly wait!