Ronan Walking (197k 3GP Movie)
Ronan is now upright and mobile, as opposed to being horizontal and mobile. He walked for the first time last week.
The journey to his first steps has been a fairly low-pressure affair. By that I mean my parents declared that he would be walking by Christmas 2007. Then they declared our apartment was too small and was impairing his walking. Then it was his shoes; they were too soft.
We just let him progress at his own time. Fifteen months is not particularly late for walking. Some babies his age were walking earlier, and some are not yet walking. He still prefers to cruise around holding onto something. In the playground he’s progressed from holding both of my hands in a fist-closed manner to just barely holding one solitary finger.
So we weren’t really pushing him to walk, figuring it would happen when he was ready. This meant that when he was ready, we were not ready with cameras and missed capturing the first steps completely.
Terry wasn’t even in the room. I was watching him while she was working on one of her projects in the back bedroom. Suddenly he just let go of the coffee table and walked across the room, about six steps. Then he stopped, cried, and curled up in a fetal position.
Why? Because I whooped. Apparently whooping is somewhat terrifying to young children, especially when they aren’t expecting it, aren’t sure why I’m doing it, or why it’s directed at them. But I couldn’t help it (okay, once I realized he was curled up crying, I could help it) because he was just so gosh-darn cute.
Ronan’s cuteness is already a factor of ten, but walking goes to eleven. He has that baby unsure-footedness about him where he rocks back and forth while he walks, as if he’s either going to crash to the floor or start breakdancing in the subways for cash.
What’s really, really cute is the giggles. The giggles get me every time. He doesn’t just walk, he giggles because he knows he’s doing something. It’s the sense of accomplishment, the joy of walking, that makes him giggle. It’s wonderful to see.
Right now he’ll walk on his own for a few steps from time to time, but he really likes to walk from me to Terry. He’s not as keen on walking from Terry to me for some reason, probably because Terry is better at eye level while I try to work the camera as well as catch him.
But he’s walking.
He’s walking!