A new way to walk
(Walk walk...)
Liam is the kid who has no great interest in motor skills until he's really really sure they are worth the trouble. He was the 11 month old you could leave on the bed without worrying about him rolling off. So I'm not sure if I should be surprised or not surprised at all at the speed with which he's figuring out this walking thing.
On the one hand, he waited until he was 15 months old to give walking much thought. He wasn't even that into cruising around furniture unless there was something he really wanted on the furniture itself. But maybe he was just figuring out the whole walking thing from the sidelines so that when he was ready he could just up and do it.
The timeline goes like this:
Oct 8 - Liam comes down with a fever that ends up lasting four days.
Oct 12 -Liam celebrates no more fever by standing up unsupported in the middle of the kitchen. He works on this standing skill for the rest of the week.
Oct 16 - Liam starts taking steps towards anyone he trusts to catch him when he decides he's done walking. (Note - this is different than falling. Liam would walk perfectly upright, not the baby lunge, until he was done walking, and then stop and lean forward towards whoever he had chosen.)
Oct 20 - Liam decides walking is the best way to get around the house.
Oct 27 - Liam takes us on a walk down the street.
So there you have it. I thought kids went from cruising to walking away from a supported stand to some spot where they would fall and then start crawling to keep moving and then eventually to independent standing and walking - the whole transition from knowing how to walk to actually being a walker - but Liam must have realized that as a second child no one was every going to have time help him stand or walk around holding his hand, so he was just going to have to do it all on his own.
Now he's trying to figure out running so he can keep up with the big boys. A part of me feels like the potential for head injuries has increased significantly, but still, this is a fun stage.