Monday, October 17, 2005

Milestone: walking

After a number of weeks of taking tentative single steps and months of cruising around furniture, Solanne finally decided that it was time to take the plunge. On Saturday, despite a runny nose and general discontent, Solanne walked across the livingroom amid cheers, laughter, wonder, and tears of joy.

So now, she is upright. Her parents were warned not to encourage it: that it would lead to more trouble and more running around on their part. But, in fact, it has resulted in less whining by Solanne. Now, instead of pleading with any adult in sight to take her hands so that she can lead them around the house to where she wants to go (because, really crawling had become below her, given that she knew what it was like to stand), she can just crawl over to any sturdy piece of furniture (or wall, or person), grab on, stand, and just walk off.

Of course, there is some falling involved, but Solanne has become comfortable with it. In fact, her realisation that falling wasn't to be feared but embraced as a normal part of success, may have been her inspiration to finally get going on her own. She was so afraid of failure that she never tried in the first place. Now, she knows that she can deal with the setbacks: she just has to get up and try again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Solanne!

I can completely empathise with having difficulty remaining on two feet, on Saturday mornings. Well done on rising to the challenge.