Elsie is a walker!

Around 10 months of age, Elsie became pretty good at walking a few steps at a time between Andy and I. She thought it was a lot of fun, but only moved toward a Mama or Daddy target. At about 11 months, she was able to walk long distances while holding just one of our hands, but would sit down and cry if we tried to take our hand away. Then she went through a short phase where she would hold on to our hands and lift up her legs and refuse to even stand if we suggested that she walk. By 12 months of age, we knew she could walk on her own because she would often do it without realizing it (like when moving toward a toy or door). When she actually "tried" to walk, though, she would try to run, making balancing a bit of a problem!

Last weekend (7-3-11), however, she finally slowed down and consciously walked by herself! She was standing in the kitchen playing with a toy when a cat laid down in front of the back door. That was all it took- Elsie turned toward the cat and, with a very determined look, walked five feet. While we weren't fast enough to get those "first" (kind of) steps on film, here are some videos from later in the day. We've taken a lot of video since then- now that she has figured out how to slow down and walk, she doesn't want to stop!