Walking

It's official! My BABY is WALKING! He has been taking a few steps to Brad and I here and there for a couple of months, then all of a sudden last Tuesday, he up and walked across to the floor to me while we were at the library... and there's been no stopping him since. He walks laps around our couch and he can stand up by himself in the middle of the floor. The funny thing is - he still can't crawl. If he ends up on his belly, he flails and screams about it. I'm sure he'll have to go back and learn that skill, but this kid has wanted to go straight to walking/running all along. Cue the Halleluja chorus.... kind of. I have been insisting for months that if Owen would just WALK already I would certainly have a new found freedom, as he insisted on being walked with hand holding, or held most of the day. I was WRONG. Now I have to spend every waking second of the day making sure he doesn't mortally injure himself!

The biggest problem is our stairs - we have two sets - a short set from the living room up into the kitchen, and the long steep set near the front door that goes down into the basement. Now, Eli didn't walk until 15 months (Owen is 11 months), and he wouldn't go NEAR any stairs unless I was holding his hand. Owen on the other hand is intent on flinging himself head first down the stairs. Both stairways have awkward configurations that our baby gate won't fit either, so I'm researching configurable gates (yay, just what I wanted to spend nearly $100 on), but in the meantime it's vigilance alone keeping the child from certain injury. Just today he plummeted head first down the short set of stairs - I dove to catch him but wasn't fast enough. He has no fear, and thinks he can just do it. I have pushed my couch up against the entrance to the basement stairs as a barricade, so anyone coming in our front door will have to jump or climb over in order to actually get into our house! On the plus side, having the couch in the entry way sure makes the living room look bigger - all the more space for the boys to run around with their little push toys. The short set of stairs is still unprotected, and Owen already climbs them as if he's been doing it all along - but I've got to be right behind him because he inevitably tumbles backwards.

The next biggest danger besides the stairs is simply BIG BROTHER. Eli is THRILLED that Owen is walking! He is so excited about it that he thinks Owen is ready to just run and play and rough house, so I have to remind him every ten seconds to play gently, be careful, don't push or bump or run into Owen....

I have to admit, it is pretty adorable to watch him toddling around. But I was so worn out from chasing and protecting him all day, that I practically went comatose on the couch when Brad finally got home and took over. I'd better get those gates ordered soon...


P.S. You might recognize the monkey PJ's... yes they are Eli's from last season - a 2T!