And She's Off!

Throughout the entire house we have wood floors which, depending on Alex's mode of transportation at the time, is a good thing or a bad thing. It's a bad thing because crawling on wood floors is a bit harder to do than crawling on carpet, especially when wearing long pants and especially when crawling is a new activity you're just learning. Poor Alex get's so tuckered out after only an inch or two of moving forward that she takes frequent breaks, striking the upward-facing dog pose momentarily before resuming her trek. She also frequently loses all patience (a trait she may or may not have inherited from her mamma) with her slow progression and, after a bit of time has passed and she hasn't reached her goal, the robot-like crawls are accompanied with tears.

On the other hand, wood floors are perfect for a walker. Almost from day one we were able to calm Alex down just by standing her up-right and as a result her legs are strong and she seems to be ready to walk at any moment. Marcus couldn’t wait to buy a walker for her once it became clear she was ready to get going whatever that criteria was…I can’t remember. It’s been a long two months but I digress.

Anyway, after we got the walker and she grew accustomed to it she was only able to motor backwards; the forward motion escaped her. I'll never forget when Norma was visiting and we were sitting on one side of the table looking at family photos. Alex was in her walker on the other side of the table occupying her time by trying to chew on the kitchen table leg (a feat which will undoubtedly one day result in her toppling over, onto the floor). Something we did must have caught her attention and I looked over to my left as a backward moving, blonde head appeared, neck straining to see us from around the corner of the table, with a look on her face that said "Hey. Hey, guys. What's so funny?"

It took Alex about a month to really get the hang of moving around in her walker. Now she can go anywhere and any which way: Forwards, backwards, and sideways. Her little legs move so quickly and despite her bubble being, literally, a foot in diameter she can maneuver around quite skillfully. With this new found freedom she’s discovered numerous things to entertain her around the house: the dishtowel is a favorite object of her desire as is the cat. It’s so much fun to see her inspecting her surroundings and at times attempting to mouth something that’s juusssttt out of reach. Truly, though, and this will sound sadistic, my favorite is when she's really upset and the tears are flowing. As she cries her little legs move faster than ever in a fit of fury and they propel her across the room. The best part is that her eyes are shut tight the whole time so she really has no clue where she’s going (though it’s debatable if she would know with her eyes open).

Most of all though, my favorite part of Alex’s walker skills is seeing her in her walker gummy grin and all, so proud of her ability to move around the kitchen like mommy and daddy. She holds her head up high and lifts those knees up in a very impressive high-step all the while watching us to be sure that we are watching her.