No steps ‘til… Brooklyn

There is a general rule on how you are supposed to handle large milestones in a baby’s life: first there’s the call to close family and friends, and then there’s the updates on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Chat Rooms, Friendster and whatever new social networking site you crazy kids are using these days. But, instead of following the traditional information channels, we are breaking all the rules today.

That’s right, folks, you are the first to hear the news – baby took her very first steps yesterday. The fam and I were lounging in Brooklyn, recovering from another long day of press events in NYC and I casually mentioned to hubby how cool it would have been if baby had taken her first steps in New York and how I was excited yet scared I was of the prospect of her walking. As if on cue, baby turned and took that one huge step forward in the life of a baby, her first wobbly step. 

Now, what kind of reviewer would I be if I didn’t rehash the entire event for my readers to share in the joy of watching my little baby grow into a full-fledged toddler? Not a very good one. At the risk of overloading twitter with what would have to be 200+ tweets to tell the tale, I thought I could just rave here and not overwhelm the entire system.

At first, I have to admit I thought the step was a fluke, a little stumble that she just happened to correct in enough time to make it look planned and purposeful. But on many repeat performances she proved to be a master at what can only be called the "step, step, dive". Hubby and I sat a few feet apart and took turns letting baby get a feel for walking by offering her a comfortable lap to lunge into as she got used to being unassisted. 

Her first little steps were wiggly jiggly, but as the game went on she became much more sure footed and planted her steps firmly between us. Or at least she did until we each scooted back enough to encourage her to take more steps in between us. She refused to try for that third step and would still only take the two steps before lunging. In the interest of not letting her faceplant on the bamboo floor, we scooted a little closer in to let her master that distance and not have to struggle to catch her before she fell.   

Each time she would step, step, dive into my arms and hug me, I wanted to squeeze her tight and just never let her go. Maybe it was the proud look on her face or maybe it was seeing her standing so tall by herself, but that moment will always be when I first saw her as anything other than a baby. For so long now she’s been playing catch up and having to work extra hard at things that come naturally to all babies {for instance, growing}, that it was really hard to not imagine she was going to be my little baby forever.  

But, as always, it turns out baby has other plans. Not only is she finally hitting those old growth charts {woohoo!}, she’s rocking that curve, firmly planted in the first 20% for her age group. She’s finally getting big enough that every trip out of the house doesn’t result in “she's tiny for her age!” and all the questions that follow. Pretty soon the infant seat will stay in the car when we shop and she will be walking beside me wherever we go. 

My sweet baby is growing up and I’ve got mixed feelings about letting her go. Part of me wants to hold her tight and keep her in my arms forever and the other part of me is so excited about what comes next. I know she’s clearly not going to be mistaken for an infant much longer, but don’t ever say that she’s not going to be my baby.