Being married to a pediatrician, I’ve learned that developmental milestones for infants/toddlers are very fluid. For every kid that does something right on schedule, there are two who do it early and two that do it late. Despite my knowledge of this, it has still been a little disappointing that M. hadn’t started walking yet. After all, her boyfriend Big Sam Beardslee was walking at what, nine months? Seven months? Six months? Something ridiculous. That frustration ended Wednesday.

I was picking her up at my in-laws after class and we tried to get her to walk to her grammy. M. marched 4-5 steps, which she had done a couple times before, right to her. So we backed her up. Despite never having done it before, she walked a full five feet! Then she went nuts, walking all over the place. Walking in circles, walking to specific objects. Squatting to catch her balance then standing to walk again. For about ten minutes, she was all over the place, pausing only to applaud herself or catch her balance against a supporting object. It was hilarious to watch her body going three different directions at once, yet she still had enough strength and focus to keep moving forward. They really do look like little drunk people when they’re taking their first steps! Naturally, both the camcorder and camera were at home, so I had to get some video of some steps later in the night, when she was much more tired and less willing to jet around the room. But my girl is walking, and that’s all that matters tonight!