Ladies and Gentlemen,

We appear to have a walker!  A drunken walker, but a walker none the less.  A few days ago she was taking a step or two and then falling but we didn’t care, were so excited!  So excited for her, in fact, that when she would stand on her own or take a few steps we’d give her a standing ovation and now she does for herself as well.  It’s so cute!

When she first started toddling I was determined to get it on film, to share with you and with her, maybe when she’s taking those nervous steps down the aisle at her wedding.  Ok, reaching.  I’m emotional, leave me alone.  So we went to the park and I got all kinds of comfy across the patch of grass with the camera and, well, it didn’t quite turn out how I’d hoped…

She loved the little bench I brought!

  

She got comfy and played on it.  She wrestled kicked off her shoes… she was having a great time…

  

Or so I thought.

And then it hit me… 

She doesn’t love the bench!  She hates the grass!

Thank God I was prepared…

Food!?  I’ll calm down for food! 

I’ll even stand for you – in the grass.

  

But I am not walking!

And if there is one type of person you can’t force or trick into doing what you want, it’s a toddler.  So instead of trying to get the perfect photo of the perfect step captured at just the right moment we sat in the park and enjoyed the brisk cool front (81 degrees) all by ourselves.  It was an overcast but gorgeous day.  We watched birds and ate pretzels.  I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon!

We tried to get a photo of us together, ok I tried. 

Have you ever taken a photo of yourself at arm’s length with a digital SLR?  You should be impressed.  I am.

And then Kate offered to share her pretzels.  We left those for the ducks.

And just to spite me she waited a few days and then she walked, she really walked.  She walked all day today (11/10/09, if you’re the bad mom without a baby book).  At the very end of the evening with soaked, matted hair, crazy pajamas and a cluttered play area she strolled from one end of the room to the other.  All by herself.  She held on to my post it notes and shuffled across the floor like she’s always been a walker.  Despite my disgust with the photos being real, and really candid, I love them and share them with you, my blog friends.  Don’t judge me for the toys!

And while we are so super excited, and shocked to have captured this moment, I know it is bittersweet.  Finally, she can walk!  Finally, I don’t have to wrestle with her in a public place when she’s bored to keep her from crawling all over the dirty floor.  Finally, she can stand up.  But…. my baby is growing up.  Soon she’ll look more like a little girl and her first steps will be a distant memory.  Soon I’ll be sorry I encouraged her to walk because without a moments notice she’ll be darting into dangerous situations, maybe even the street while I holler after her.  You don’t plan stuff like that, but it always seems to happen.  Congratulations baby girl!  My back is so happy you’re walking – you’re very heavy – but my heart is just a little sad.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Kate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.