Ta Da!There's Jaden, taking some of his first steps. . .finally!! And they are all the more precious for the time we had to wait for them.
I'll admit that I did feel some angst at how long it took Jaden to start walking on his own. After all, 17 months is older than most . All of his friends his age have been walking for months, and many of his younger friends, even six or more months younger, are further down that road than Jaden is. So, while I knew in my head that nothing was wrong with my son, my heart did become anxious to reach this important milestone.
My mom kept reminding me that he wouldn't be crawling to kindergarten, and that Jaden's sweet and laid-back nature which contributed to his lack of urgency was truly a good quality for him to have in other areas. I knew all this. I still wanted him to walk. While all his friends moved on to the "walkers" room in the nursery at church, Jaden remained the biggest kid in the "crawlers" room.
And, with baby #2 arriving in July, I needed Jaden to be a bit more self-sufficient. I can carry a lot of stuff, but I don't think I can carry Jaden, the baby in his carrier, a purse, a diaper bag, and whatever else needs carrying.
So, we're thrilled that we're finally making "steps" in the right direction. We still have a ways to go. Some days he's more interested in walking than others, and he still prefers crawling as his primary mode of transportation (he is a very fast crawler, after all), but he's more and more steady on his feet the more he practices. He just needs to build up that confidence, and he'll be running in no time.
Yet again, God is teaching me to wait on His timing. I'm very stubborn in this area and need lots and lots of reminders. Jaden excels in many, many areas, so it's OK for him to be a bit behind the curve in one. And, after all, I wouldn't love him any less if he never walked. Instead of being anxious about him living up to my expectations, I need to focus more on helping him become the child, and eventually the man, that God wants him to be because that's the kind of person that I want him to be, too.
3 comments:
Good job Jaden! We could all use a little training in patience! I always smile when I hear parents get all goosed up about what milestone their kid has or hasn't made (we all do it!) and it really is true that the playing field levels out for everyone VERY quickly. The kids that knew their alphabet first may possibly be the last to read, and the kid who was running first may end up to be the first one at the ER. Funny your Mom said that he wouldn't be crawling to kindergarten because I just heard another Mom here saying to a friend of mine in the midst of toilet training that her son wouldn't walk down the aisle with pullups on! What a visual! Anyway, glad to hear he is moving right along ; ) What a cutie! Jodie
That's great, yea Jaden! Glad he's found his footing. We had another friend who's little boy could scoot on his knees really well and it took him until 17 months to want to even get up and try walking. I'm sure soon you'll be wishing he was still crawling as he runs away from you as fast as he can at the park, the grocery store, etc. etc. Marillah will be thrilled that he is waling so now they can chase.
Ha ha ha ha hahahhahahahahahah! Your time is coming:) I bet it will really be interesting for you to start school as a "parent" vs a "teacher." Although you'll have lots of aympathy and understanding for the teachers. It's been fun albeit busy having all the activities at Marillah's school. It's an amazing place, maybe Jaden would like to go there some day.
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