Look Out World!!

Tori is finally starting to walk without holding onto anything. She takes a tentative step here and there. She is becoming much more balanced and confident.

Of course, she did slip and fall on her face this afternoon. She gave herself a fat lip. The wood floors are slippery and very unforgiving.

She got over it pretty quickly though and was back to smearing her face all over the sliding glass door. She also - unfortunately - realized that she could open all of the drawers in the kitchen. I knew there was a reason that I never let her down on the floor. :)

Honestly, I know she probably would have been walking a couple of months ago if I had given her the chance. The other kids were all walking in between 7-9 months. Here she is, past her first birthday and now just taking steps.

I really never let her down on the floor though. It's not that I don't want her to play and learn to walk. It just makes me nervous.

We have a split level home. Wood floors. Wood stairs. We have a baby gate, but honestly, the kids are up and down the stairs all day long - often in a hurry to "just grab something" and forgetting to shut the gate.

Also, I have a very rambunctious 3 year old boy. He is very good and gentle with her, but he doesn't always see her when she's playing on the floor.

So, she always was moved from the play pen to the high chair to the exersaucer to me holding her. Poor kid.

I have finally let go though and decided that I can't hold her back any longer. She was so excited to be exploring today. I tried to let her have some fun. :)

I had some pictures of her to add, but I still haven't figured out how on earth I put my camera card into my new laptop. I guess I'll have to find the pesky manual and see how it works.
I'll add the pictures to the post when I get it figured out (or when I go put it into the desktop and put them on the thumb drive....)