Sophie Walks! (Kinda)

Sophie took her first unassisted steps today.

She was standing at the kids' table in our living room, and she wanted food (of course) that Chris was holding in the middle of the floor, but instead of dropping to her knees to crawl like she has done for 8+ months, she just let go of the table and started walking toward the food. She got about four good steps in, stumbled, and fell on her butt. Chris, Emma and I watched it all in silent disbelief before simultaneously erupting in applause, startling Sophie so much that we had to reassure her with loud, enthusiastic calls of "Good GIRL!" like crazed escapees from the positive reinforcement funny farm.

It was a fluke, and I don't know when she'll try again - but hey, it's a start! And a rather late start at that, considering she's just shy of 17 months old...which, of course, makes the event all the more welcome.

The irony is that I signed her up for gymnastics just this morning. Classes begin in mid-June, and all the participants need to be "exclusively walking." I figured a little deadline could be good, something to work toward, because Sophie had been showing little interest in learning to walk on her own. Honestly, what I remember thinking as I filled out the online form was, "That's two whole months from now - surely she'll be walking by then?" Followed quickly by, "I swear, if she isn't running by then, she's grounded." (Grounded from what, you might ask? Sesame Street? Gerber's Crunchers? Who knows.)

Hopefully, this first step toward walking (and YES, that pun is intended, my friends...wowza!) is a sign that Sophie does, in fact, plan to incorporate upright mobility into her repertoire of tricks before she's 2. Time will tell.