She's Really Walking Now!

Last weekend Alisa decided that she wants to walk all the time now. She practiced and practiced--building her skills and confidence--at Courtney & Hayden's house in Birmingham, AL. She'd walk around and around the couch and kitchen and back and forth between the living room, kitchen and hallway. She was thoroughly entertained by this for over half an hour.

Before this weekend, she'd cruise around all the time while holding onto the furniture, her walker toys or our fingers, but as far as unassisted steps were concerned, she'd only take about 5 in a row. She'd usually walk from the ottoman to the La-Z-Boy or vice versa, lunging with her arms out for the last little bit.

Here are pics of her practicing walking:

3-06-08:

3-08-08:

3-13-08:

3-17-08:

3-19-08:

3-27-08:

4-07-08:

4-23-08:

4-30-08:

5-07-08:

So, from her first unassisted steps to this crossing over point, it was about 9 weeks. Everyone told me that once she took her first steps, she'd quickly learn to walk and then would be running and getting into everything in no time. I'm glad she took her time with it instead. She walks just for the sake of walking now because she's so glad she can do it. She isn't always seeking out an object or destination.

Now that she's been walking full time around our house for over a week, she knows the lay of the land. She always stops walking to crawl over the part where the base of the gate goes across the floor between the living room and the hallway to the kitchen. It's about an inch high and she doesn't realize she can step over it--at least she knows to be careful so she doesn't trip over it. She also knows to cautiously step from the downstairs hallway to the study because the floor is slightly sloped in that spot.

Here are pics and a video of her really going to town with the walking (5-27-08):