She's Walking!

Tatum took her first solo steps last week as we were playing on the floor. She stood up from her play table, looked at me, grinned her silly smile, and took three steps before diving into my arms in laughter. She's as proud of herself as we are.

She prefers to walk hand in hand, using both hands for support. If you offer her one hand, she stands with the other extended, moving her fingers asking for the other. With that assistance she'll walk just about anywhere, but definitely prefers walking up and down (and up and down and up and down) steps. Maybe it's because we lack stairs in our house that she becomes so enamored with them in the outside world. Who knows, but its really quite funny, and can be scary. When no steps are around, she entertains herself on the curb. With traffic looming by, this is not our favorite place to play.

So the journey continues. Two weeks have passed since her first steps, and her cautious nature has kept her from taking any more steps alone. So we practice each evening with Tatum walking her few steps between Andrew and I. She gets so excited with the play that she ends up falling down in laughter after each step.

In an attempt to help build her strength and confidence, we've ordered a push toy that will arrive in the mail next week. Let's hope she digs it.