Walking Lessons

Zoe will be 15 months old next Tuesday, and she's still not walking. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of the motherly comparison comments. You know, they sound like this:

"Oh, my son/daughter walked at nine months!"

"My little boy/girl didn't walk until he was 18 months old."

"Don't worry. She'll walk when she's ready."

Yeah, yeah. I spent the whole morning walking around Wal-Mart to find you so I could hear your story, Random Stranger. Really.

Zoe will walk when she needs to, and I'm not at all concerned about it. Frankly, I think she's eating up this "helpless little sister/daughter" act that she's got going on. She is extremely spoiled by her brothers (and us, I admit it). Although she isn't quite ready to march off on her own yet, she is thoroughly enjoying the learning process. Her favorite thing is to walk around holding onto Mommy or Daddy's fingers. Where does she always want to go? Straight into Ethan's arms! She LOVES walking to him, and it is so adorable.

Check out that giant grin!

Nicholas tries to get in on the action, but I think Zoe's scared of him. He's a little...um...clumsy, and I'm sure she's just fearing for her fingers and toes. And all the other body parts. He does love her dearly, and he gives her giant hugs and kisses whenever she'll let him.

A Zoe sandwich.

On this particular day, Granddad was helping Zoe walk, and there were times when she took a tumble. He would pick her up to comfort her and try to stop her tears, but she just wanted Ethan! She kept reaching out for him and would only sit with him when she was upset. It was so sweet.

Look at the proud big brother smile.

Anyway, Zoe will eventually get it, and then she'll be unstoppable. For the time being, we're just letting her learn at her own pace. She's cruising around really well as long as she's got something to hold on to, and she's starting to stand on her own (without holding on) for longer periods of time. Developmentally, she is doing well. She knows so many words...way more than the boys knew when they were her age. She can communicate her needs effectively, and she can understand commands from others. I'll ask her to go get things and bring them to me, and she crawls right over to the object, picks it up and delivers it. I know her brain works, and her legs will follow (one day)!

I'll get Ethan to practice with her some more. Maybe it will be the motivations she needs.