Major milestone alert: we've got a walker

Tonight, after months of cruising the furniture and dropping down to crawl any distance longer than her arm span, Ava tossed caution to the wind and walked for us. I say "for us" because J.'s Great Aunt who lives with us saw her do it two months ago (!) right after her first birthday, but she hasn't tried it since. I like to think she's been sneaking off in the middle of the night to practice, like Baby in Dirty Dancing, but without the Catskills backdrop.

We've been encouraging her for weeks, but she didn't seem ready to take the plunge. Another mom figured Ava, like her son, won't do something until she's pretty sure she has it down pat. She's spot on! It was clear she could do it, she just didn't seem to want to be caught sucking at it. Man, she definitely takes after her dad. He of the "I'll rollerblade with you when I'm better." Um, how are you going to get better?

My approach? "Sure, I'll snowboard. How hard could it be?" I said, before gently carving down the mountain then faceplanting and getting the wind knocked out of me on the hard packed snow. But I got back up, because that's life sister!

In contrast, Ava took her own sweet time, but when she did it, she did it well. As in a few steps, a few steps more, then a full on trek through the middle of the kitchen with no support in sight. This girly is my rockstar. And I no longer have to console myself by saying, "I'm sure she'll do it by kindergarten." What's next on this kid raisin' checklist? Talking? Jumping? Long division? Skeet shooting? Whatever. I'm not worried. I'm sure she'll do it by kindergarten.