Toddling

I still have a baby.  I still have a baby.  I still have a baby.

… a baby who walks.

In this past months, Cameron has gone from taking his first steps to walking almost everywhere he goes.  It is so precious.  Dan and I just sit in the living room and giggle as he toddles here and there, making sure his balance is good and stopping only for a quick dance if music is playing.

I love my son.

I should have known he’d be an early walker.  He’s always wanted to be on the move.  As a newborn, he would hate tummy time because he wasn’t going anywhere.  When he learned to sit, he would often topple in hopes that he might be able to propel himself.  He would roll to his belly, trying to use all the brain power he could muster to get somewhere else.  Cameron is nothing if not determined.

My husband bet me that Cam would be walking by Christmas.  I wasn’t convinced.  Sure, he was standing on his own, and cruising if he could hold onto furniture.  But walking. By nine and a half months?

Cameron Standing
Photos taken January 13, 2011
10 months, 1 week old

If you asked my husband, he would tell you that he was almost right.  Cameron did take his first steps on December 31st.  But the reality is that Dan thought he’d walk by Christmas or before, and I thought he’d walk after Christmas.  So I win.

After Cam started to take his first steps but was still crawling by default, he started doing this funny little hybrid crawl.  I call it crawalking.  It was hilarious.  This would often happen if Cameron had no pants on, because he didn’t want his knees to be on the floor.  I admit to keeping pants off after diaper changes to watch him do his funny little crawl.

Photos taken January 13, 2011
10 months, 1 week old

I’m kind of cruel, but how cute is that?
Cam now walks like a pro, and that reminds me just how fast he is growing up.  I keep telling myself that technically he is still a baby, despite all that toddling.  I hold onto the times when his little steps pitter-patter towards me as he lifts up his arms for a snuggle.

Photos taken today
10 months, 2 weeks, 6 days old
I still have a baby.  I still have a baby.  I still have a baby.
Laura (@LauraORourke) is a photographer who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A wife to Dan and a mother to Cameron, she spends her free time blogging and reading. Her blog finds its home at http://miraclesofamily.blogspot.com. Her photography can be found at http://www.olalaphotography.com.

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