.The story of Amelia's first steps.

As you know my child is very stubborn and although up until Friday she had not walked on her own we were all convinced that she could do it and was choosing not to.
On Thursday we had our appointment with her pediatrician who confirmed after the check-up that Amelia absolutely could walk and had decided, for whatever reason, that she just simply didn't want to. She {the doctor} suggested that we allow Amelia to walk up our stairs a few times a day {with us there of course} as a way of coaxing her to walk. Apparently it's using the same muscles as walking in a very similar way but since it's more "fun" to climb and since there's not the same pressure from parents the kiddos relax and it often ends with them reaching the top of the staircase and just walking.
We went home from the appointment and introduced Amelia to the once strictly forbidden staircase. After about 2 minutes of standing at the bottom and contemplating her best course of action she shot right to the top {about 15 steps} without a single hesitation. I should have known. We gave her a ton of praise and had her do it another 2-3 times that night.
The next day {Friday} after Cheyenne went to work, Amelia & I went back to the staircase for practice. I had her go up the stairs 6 times throughout the day then at 5:00pm I took her to her nursery to play. On a lark, just to see what she would do, I helped her stand up while holding on to one of my fingers then i used her favorite book {Dr. Seuss's ABC's} as bait just out of her reach. To my shock she let go of my finger and walked towards the book! Over the next 30 minutes I got her to be able to walk from one side of her room to the other.
When Cheyenne came home he was shocked and delighted in her progress and worked with her until it was time for her bath.
The next day {Saturday} in music class all she wanted to do was walk. Specifically walk over to our instructor, the amazing Kiki Nelson, and her ukelele. For the entire hour long class Amelia stood, danced, or walked around. I love that class. Later that day my dad came over and we had to show him what his favorite gal had been up to. Amelia adores her grandpa so it was super easy to get her motivated to walk since we had him as her bait.
She's been on the move since then. Each time she's more confident. She walks all around and bends at the waist to pick things up or squats down then stands back up without help and keeps walking. When she's tired or wants to get somewhere fast she'll drop down and crawl {you wouldn't believe how fast she can crawl} but as she gets faster and better at walking the crawling will cease.
I like to think of her crawling as her personal Mother's Day gift for me. I wonder what she has up her sleeve for Father's Day?