Daphne is walking!

Daphne took her first assisted steps right around Christmas, but hasn’t done much since then. As time went by she would take two to three unassisted steps or 'walk' around by pushing her push toy (on wheels) all over the house.  She loves to stand, and would probably walk to the other side of the earth as long as she was holding your finger(s). She moves fast…as long as she has ‘grippy’ socks or her shoes on.

In the Toddler Room, Daphne is the youngest and is also the only one that doesn’t walk unassisted 100% of the time.  Her teachers have been telling us for weeks, “She’s ready to walk, any day now!”  We know and feel this too. Some days the daily report from her teacher will be something along the lines of, “Daphne took some steps today!” or “Daphne walked around the room today!” (you get the picture).

So, imagine our surprise when over this past weekend while Rachel was getting something out of the fridge, in her peripheral vision, she sees Daphne make her way from the coffee table over to her toys. Mind you, it was about 3 or 4 steps for her. But, they were unassisted! Rachel could hardly believe it and also believed it – because we secretly think that she actually does walk around when no one is looking…and I do believe this just confirmed it.

Another instance -- Daphne was standing not too far away and decided to come towards us. But not crawling as she usually does. One foot moved slowly in front of the other and she started taking step after step. Then, she was walking as if she had been walking for months.  At one point we counted 14 little toddler steps. Fourteen! That’s amazing! We looked at each other shocked and with a huge grin so proud of the accomplishment that Daphne had just made. I don’t think we could have been more excited or more proud of her. We squealed, clapped, shouted, and jumped in the air, all in excitement for Daphne’s big milestone.

It’s a bittersweet moment when you see your child walk for the first time. As much as we love that she is gaining the independence and growing up, she’s still growing up. And   *POOF*   just like that our baby isn’t a baby anymore.

I don’t know how in the world a parent would ever catch THE very FIRST baby steps their child ever takes.  Seriously, how does a parent do that?  How do you know when it’s going to be “the moment?” Then, how on earth do you decide between grabbing the camera or being there to catch her when she undoubtedly stumbles, trips over her own feet, and falls flat on her face??

Here are the photos we were able to capture -- ENJOY!

Making her way across the kitchen!

Halfway to Daddy!

YAY! Made it the entire way.