Our Big Walker

My daughter, C, has been learning to walk for some time now but she has been resistant to giving up her previous mode of transportation, i.e. crawling. It's been about two months since she began taking her first few steps, but she has finally decided that walking is preferable to crawling. She was beginning to look a little silly crawling given she is 14 months old! She crawled a lot earlier than my son so I figured she would be walking sooner. I guess I shouldn't have made that assumption. She is now right on track with my son.

Her vocabulary is constantly growing. The only limitation is getting the words to come out just right. Her comprehension is so impressive. I feel, after already having one child, that I better understand her language, body gestures, etc. I am just amazed at how fast a child can learn and how much they can comprehend at such a young age!

It was about a month ago when I was playing with my daughter and asked her if she wanted to play with play dough. She said, "doh doh?" and proceeded to crawl to the cabinet the play dough is kept in, stand up, and reach as high as she could as if saying, "Okay, where's my play dough? I'm ready!"

One thing I will say about my daughter is that she is fearless. My son has always been a bit cautious (and an anxious mommy probably didn't help), so it has been fun and a little scary to see my daughter dive in head first (literally at times).

About a month ago we went to the Victorville mall for lunch. I don't go often, but we were in the area. They have a great newer play area for kids in the food court area. My daughter was in the thick of the little children playing when realized she could climb the rock-like steps up the main play structure. Things were going well, she'd wait for me to get her ready to slide down the 5 ft rock "slides" and happily slide down, but then she decided she didn't need me anymore. She climbed up the stairs and, before I could do anything, sent herself flying head first down the rock slide--laughing and squealing all the way, I might add. She has definitely taught me to let go a little and let her do her own exploring.

So my little adventurer is walking (and just in time for the big move). I wonder what surprises she has in store for me yet (maybe I shouldn't be asking...). That's all part of being a mom, right?