Full Day

It's sometimes fun to hear new parents speak of their child's first steps, but I never suspected it would be so overwhelming to witness it first-hand. When Sava let go of his push car today and walked five steps to me, I barely noticed because I was busy pretending to eat a muffin that I wanted him to eat. Then when it struck me a second later what had happened, I had to contain myself not to smother him with hugs. That was at 3.45 p.m. As the afternoon went on, he moved to longer and longer treks, twelve, seventeen, twenty-five steps, and now it seems he is on his way to becoming a true homo sapiens. He is far from stable yet, and it helps to be walking behind him, rather than standing in front, because if he sees two welcoming arms he tends to lunge forwards and (most often) fall into a hug. Yet he is over the psychological fear that held him back in the last few weeks, when it was obvious he could do it, if only he'd let go. I wonder what mysterious switch turned on in his head that all of a sudden said, "You are ready. Go." He is quite aware of doing something new, and very proud, because each time you look at him walking he gives a big grin and often giggles. But while he is still happy to see someone at the other end, it's obvious that soon enough he'll be starring in "Catch Me If You Can." My back hurts for real now. It will be a while before we feel comfortable enough to not walk stooping behind him in case he starts to fall.

On a different note, literally, we went to a lovely children's concert of a group called Colibri in a local bookstore today. I was worried that Sava would get restless, and he did a little between songs (helped that I had just bought him a "My Truck is Stuck!" book that he could ogle), but during the songs he watched entranced with open mouth (agape?). The group consisted of two women singing in Spanish songs from places like Mexico, Cuba, Peru, with different accompanying instruments and lots of audience participation. With lots of other kids, it was a perfect summer morning treat.