Walk Like a Man, My Son

Step (pun intended) One:
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I was around the corner collecting our bath laundry when I heard Ayize in the living room practicing talking. He was saying, "Ma-ma-ma-ma" really quietly to himself because he was super shy about learning to talk back then (not a problem these days). I was soooo psyched. I snuck up behind him to where he was standing at his activity table, spinning his frog rattles and whispering. I said, "Hey, Ayize -- 'mama'!" as I threw up my arms in excitement. He whipped around, surprised, and then stood there for a moment holding on to one of the frogs, then looked at me and started to open his lips. I was all ready for him to say, "Mama." I was NOT ready, however, for what actually happened -- he let go of the frog, closed his mouth and took five steady steps towards me, landing gently into my arms. I wrapped him up in a hug and sat there for a moment in stunned silence. Dude, I said TALK, not WALK! Oh my god!! Two days later, my sister was over for Thanksgiving and filmed a reenactment in the exact same spot (video # 1).

Step Two:
For a few weeks, Ayize kept taking four or five steps at a go, but only when he really wanted or needed something within that distance, and only when there was a reliable-looking landing pad at his projected endpoint, such as me, or a bed or coffee table.

Step Three:
One day in mid-December, Ayize was standing and holding onto a chair. He turned and looked down the hall into the far bedroom, then turned back to look at me with the slyest of smiles. Then he let go of the chair and took off down the hallway. He was totally hustling! And totally steady!! Left, right, left, right...he reached the end of the hall and kept walking while turning himself to angle through the doorway to the room. He straightened out and continued walking until he reached the bed. He put out his arms as he approached the bed and gently stopped himself without falling, then stood there, looking back at me, grinning proudly. I was still standing all the way down at the other end of the hall by the chair where his journey had begun, my mouth agape. Umm...has anyone seen my mostly-immobile son?? And who is this on-the-go stranger walking through my house???

Step Four:
Things were progressing swimmingly and then around the holidays, all of a sudden...a few failed attempts at walking due to a nasty ear infection (center of balance got super screwed up, I guess) and Ayize was 100% back to crawling. No shirt, no shoes, no exceptions! Except instead of regular-speed crawling, he was hyper-crawling -- racing around on all fours like a little cheetah.

Step Five:
This past Friday. Three days into the antibiotics and he was feeling a lot better. We went to Gymboree and he stood up and started walking with the giant gym ball (video # 2). He was still pretty wobbly but I was happy to see he was ready to try again and anticipating another few weeks of four and five tentative steps at a time with a gradual buildup to braver endeavors, as per before.

Final Step (one small step for Man, one giant step...well, you know the rest):
Well, Ayize had a better plan in mind. I guess walking is like riding a bicycle. Within 24 hours, he was off, taking toddling steps every which way, showing off his old, but newfound, skills. Yesterday morning, Sunday, I was on the phone when he did the cheetah running crawl out of the room and around the corner into the bathroom. I followed hot on his heels, but before I could even enter the bathroom, he came sailing out doing the homo erectus, and at quite a clip! I almost fell over laughing. It was like Superman into a telephone booth, in one guy and out another. And today -- well, you can see for yourself in video # 3 below.

The evolution of man in 13 months -- or three days, depending on how you look at it. Enjoy!