She's walking - she's REALLY walking!!

[mamahill]

No more "she takes few steps and then when she REALIZES she's walking, promptly sits down" or "she starts yelling at us and waving her hands saying 'no' when we cheer for her" - oh no! Tonight she took her first proud 7 steps between DH and myself - and on camera! And then she took about 22 steps. The funniest thing was watching her get up close to DH, and then trying (and succeding) in steering her body in a u-turn back to myself. It was one of the first real proud mommy moments (other than pushing her out). I'm absolutely beaming right now. A little sad, thinking that my baby isn't so much of a baby, but then I already was feeling a little sad earlier this week in packing up a bunch of her clothes.

Well, I must say that this is a much-needed mommy-boost after the week (month) I've had. I can't wait for more of this. And the fact that she's finally proud of herself and is doing it for our cheers is all the more adorable. Somebody call CPS before I squeeze this kid too hard!

ps - DH theorizes she has been practicing when we were asleep. maybe...

[JustMare]

Oh Sarah that's wonderful!!! I'm so happy for you!!! :)

It touched me when you said it was "your first real mommy moment" - how sweet!!!

[mama2be]

WE are so excited for you gals!!!! I want to see the video!!!! Does this mean she'll be showing off running down the halls on the retreat...watch out world here comes Miss A :)...

YEAH Ainsleigh!!!!

[Karenn]

Hooray! Take some pictures and post them! I want to see! You all must be so excited!

[mamahill]

Oh, you asked for it. Thank you for baiting me, Karen! Here are the pics - please excuse the facial expressions:). If I could figure out how to upload video, I would. I was almost sad to put her to bed because that meant playing was over. I'm so excited for her to wake up (somebody pinch me - did I just SAY that?!?!).

http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3274fe58455

[egoldber]

Yeah Ainsleigh! AND she did it with shoes on!! It took Sarah a few weeks to master walking WITH shoes as opposed to barefoot, LOL!!

[Rachels]

Yaaaaayyyyy, Ainsleigh!!!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[MartiesMom2B]

Yeah Ainsley! I loved the pictures. I could hear the theme to Chariots of Fire while looking at them! Get some rest Sarah, she's going to be running around all of the place before you know it!

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Marisa6826]

Sarah-

Before you know it, Ainsleigh will be demanding that $300 prom dress!! :)

Congrats, little girl, on your wonderful achievement!! :)

-m

[jojo2324]

Okay, thank you SO MUCH for the pictures!! I love that her little arms are up in the air with each step...Was she screaming out of sheer delight whilst toddling about?

And the u-turns are the best. It took Gman a few weeks to master those without kerplunking, but they were so worth it...:)

[atlbaby]

Hooray for Ainsleigh!!!

I too felt a bit sad when I realized she was not a little baby any longer, but it is so fun to see them succeed at something and be so proud of themselves! With the earlier milestones (rolling/sitting...) I could tell Arielle was happy that she was where she wanted to be (ie no more screaming to get back onto her back!) but with walking her pride was infectious! As for packing the clothes, well, I was a lot more sad before I realized that I will see them on a baby soon again!:)

Can't wait to see pictures!:)

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2EDD 10/24/03-Another Girl!:)

[JMarie]

Congratulaions Ainsleigh! We knew you could do it!

Jennifer
Mom to Aidan Christopher 01/28/03

[brubeck]

Wow, a U-turn and walking on the same day? It took Amy AGES to do a U-turn after she started walking. In fact one of our favorite games would be to chase her in a circle around the stairs in our house. I would spin around when she couldn't see me and run back and meet her face to face! She just wasn't able to do it herself, so it always ended up in piles of lauyghter. I think it took her almost 6 months to do the u-turn after she started walking.

All of this just goes to show you: I really think Ainsleigh was capable of walking for the last few months but just decided mentally that she didn't want to do it! The few times I saw her I got the feeling that she was just more secure holding onto Mommy, even if she didn't need to. I'm so glad that she got up the gumption though.

Just you wait, in a month it'll look like she's been walking forever!

[josephsmom]

WOO-HOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Yay, Ainsleigh! Congrats, Sarah! I know how good this must feel! Have fun!

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[loewymartin]

YEAH!!! I thought from what you had said that I would see this post soon :-) Congrats! Isn't it great to see their sheer delight in doing something so cool?! She will certainly be running soon - for some reason I think that happens by default, almost like they can't get their bodies to slow down!!

Now she can do running hugs - I love those! Where you get to kneel down and she comes running into your arms for a huge hug! Enjoy :-)

Michelle - Mom to Alia born 5/16/02

[kathsmom]

Sarah!

Please give Ainsleigh a big hug from all of us and tell her that we are very proud of her!! YAY! Way to go, Ainsleigh!

[nigele]

I'm so proud of Ainsleigh - What a big girl! She'll be able to walk to Tom Tom when they meet for the first time!!!

[nigele]

Those pictures were SO precious they brought tears to my eyes!

[Andrea S]

Woo-Hoo!! I can't wait to see her walking around at the retreat:)

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

[parkersmama]

That is so great!! Love the pictures! What a cutie-pie. :-) Congrats!!

[Sandy]

Congratulations. I am so happy for you. Ainsleigh looks adorable and so proud. Alexander just started walking also. He's still pretty awkward but he is definitely walking.


Sandy
mom to Alexander Thor 3/16/02

[Annette_C]

Hoooorrrrraaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy for Ainsleigh!!!!!
Great news Sarah! Congratulations!!
Thanks for posting the pictures; they're absolutely adorable!!!
Can't wait to see her in action! :)
Hugs to both of you,
Annette
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[cinrein]

Oh she is adorable! I love that hands-in-the-air walk and the pride beaming on her face. (I love her hair color too!) Thank you so much for sharing! It just gets better and better, doesn't it!

Cindy
Mama to Anna 2/11/03

[atlbaby]

I love the pictures!!! I didn't notice you'd posted them when I replied earlier, silly me. She looks so proud and happy!:) I so wish I could go to the retreat so I could see her walk in person. Ah well, the pictures will have to do (more, more!)

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2EDD 10/24/03-Another Girl!:)

[mamahill]

Thank you all! It's so nice to have people who are excited for you. My mom was out of town, my aunt (like a mom) was moving into her weekend home and my sister just moved - talk about anticlimactic. But she has been walking more and more and it is so funny to see how proud she is when she'll walk toward me and then just as she gets to me, turns around and runs away giggling. I use the word "runs" loosely - it's more of a lurching out of control! And she has discovered pulling up on furniture and then walking to something. For some reason she loves being chased. Ah well - thanks for listening. I can not tell you how much more in love I fall with this kid each day (which is good since putting her down at night has begun to be quite the chore). WOOHOO! I have a toddler!!

[blnony]

Sarah-
I didn't get to respond earlier!! YEAH FOR AINSLEIGH!! I bet she is the cutest little toddler around. I think Audrey will be toddling pretty soon too. :)

[Karenn]

Adorable! Thanks for posting them! I just love the hair!

[mharling]

A little late to the thread; I just noticed that you posted pics! They are too cute. The expressions (hers AND yours) are priceless. Congrats Ainsleigh!!!

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3237413c427 - New 6/18

[partyof5]

How WONDERFUL! Sigh, babies grow up so fast. I still remember my oldest taking her first steps and I can't believe she'll be 4 years old this year. Enjoy the moment!

~Cindy
mommy to...
Isabella (1999)
Sophia (2001)
Ethan (2003)