First Time Walking

Patrick was upset when his mother went outside without him (cooking on the grill). I set Patrick down on his feet the floor in the sun-room. He was grasping my fingers as he normally did. I pulled by fingers free and lightly supported his elbows. He started walking forward ... out of my hands and simply kept on going. Baby steps (those words will never mean the same thing to me again), but walking.

I quickly got ahead of him and got Jen's to come back to the door and she got to see about half of the first walk ... to her, at the door waiting for him! Fifteen feet on the first walk ... awesome!

He walked from the swing to his Mama ... diving into her arms after about ten feet!

Inside a few minutes later, he crossed the living room lengthwise for about 30 feet of walking ... up onto the rug in the middle of the room.

AND, later he walked about eight feet toward his Papap, falling for the first time in any of his efforts.

I think at some level, he's been ready to walk ... he watched the other children and developed a plan of action and waited until he was ready to go. This was the night.

What an amazing night this has been. I can't say how amazed and proud I am ... he is truly an awesome child.

Sometime in Patrick's first few months in day-care, I asked about his first time doing things ... talking, crawling, walking ... and was told that even if a child did have a first event at the school, they don't tell the parents. They want Mom and Dad to have that experience to themselves. What a cool policy.

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Family Time with Shoes

Last night was cool. Patrick was in a playful mood ... dumping food and drinks all over the place, sneaking toys over the back of the couch (then getting upset when I passed them back to him), and climbing over everything. He also got a family game going ... with everyone ready for bed, he had us put his shoes on, then Papa and Mama had to put on their boots. It was all very funny and exciting ... mostly watching his intensity. Then, we had to follow him ... around and around we went. Through the kitchen, into the dining room, through the family room, past the front door and into the kitchen again ... over and over, around and around ... stomping our feet in some sort of family train! Every now and then, Jen or I would fall behind and invariably, Patrick would stop to make sure that we caught back up. We played other games, as well ... but we always seemed to head back to the train ... oh, and don't forget the shoes ...

Getting Involved

This is the second night in a row that we were able to spend time and Grandma and Papap's ... Patrick enjoys it so much! We even had a rousing rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with all five of us involved ... yes, Patrick is pitching in now. He runs from person to person, giving a bit to each one of us ... there is never a dull moment. Tonight, he repeated a new activity from last night. Last night, it was getting everyone involved in chasing him around the house ... tonight, we had this activity, but what we saw was that he wanted to play different games and wanted certain people involved. This is when he went to each person that needed to be involved and grabbed a finger, pulling them along. He even checked every now and then to make sure they were still following. Such an amazing child ... knows how to ensure that we sleep well.

Painful Bits

Yesterday was a long work day ... I would have said a long day at work, but I was there, headed home, then had to return in the evening to work with the evening shift. I got home early in the afternoon and basically did nothing. I tried to nap ... to no avail. When Jen got home with Patrick, I basically had time to eat dinner, then head out the door again. The truly painful part was Patrick and Jen standing on the front porch ... with Patrick screaming, reaching for me as I drove off. I heard his screams until I well out of sight. According to Jen, as soon as he realized I was not coming back right away, he stopped yelling ... turned around and started playing with the doorbell and the screen door. His discomfort lasted significantly less than mine did ... I was ready to head home for hours. What focus!

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