I already added this as a comment to the WALKING post, but it doesn't publish the comment right on the blog page, so I'm afraid people will miss it. I wanted to update the post called WALKING from June 29th.
What I mean when I say walking is two things. First, she's actually taking unaided steps, and second, she is able to stand unassisted for enough time that we can see her learning to balance. I'll talk about the first one first, since that is the true walking. Picture this: I am sitting on the floor with my legs outstretched in a V shape in front of me. I hold Emily up to her full height (at that point we're looking eye-to-eye) and I lean forward so that her feet are on the floor between my left and right feet. At this point, I'm either holding onto her hands or her torso. I get her into as neutral a balance as I can - not leaning backwards or forwards - and I left go. She then takes 2-3 steps to me, and usually either falls forward into my chest, but several times she walked all the way to my chest without falling forward. Now of course, many times she didn't take any steps, but just sat down or started to tip one way or the other (I always caught her). And other times she only took a step or a partial step. But several times, again and again, she took steps on her own. I got some of it on video, so I'll see if I can post it.
Now onto the second part. Sometimes, I would let go and she would stand there 1, 2, 3 seconds before usually sitting down. Now that might not sound like a lot, but when you've had a baby who drops right to the floor the second you let go of her arms, it is remarkable to see her stand even for just half a second on her own. It's great, and Ella has been quick to show signs of this, too.
It's great to watch them both experiment with walking and standing. They are so proud of themselves, and so happy when we do it. Oh, I forgot to mention a third walking exercise. Sometimes we walk with them under our legs, and say I'm walking with Ella towards Sarah sitting on the couch. When I get 2-3 steps away, I'll let go and she'll keep walking to the Sarah. This is somewhat less successful than the other two methods above, mostly because our baby is holding our hands while we are holding theirs, and even if I try to let go, she keeps holding on until we get to the couch. But sometimes it works. :)
What I mean when I say walking is two things. First, she's actually taking unaided steps, and second, she is able to stand unassisted for enough time that we can see her learning to balance. I'll talk about the first one first, since that is the true walking. Picture this: I am sitting on the floor with my legs outstretched in a V shape in front of me. I hold Emily up to her full height (at that point we're looking eye-to-eye) and I lean forward so that her feet are on the floor between my left and right feet. At this point, I'm either holding onto her hands or her torso. I get her into as neutral a balance as I can - not leaning backwards or forwards - and I left go. She then takes 2-3 steps to me, and usually either falls forward into my chest, but several times she walked all the way to my chest without falling forward. Now of course, many times she didn't take any steps, but just sat down or started to tip one way or the other (I always caught her). And other times she only took a step or a partial step. But several times, again and again, she took steps on her own. I got some of it on video, so I'll see if I can post it.
Now onto the second part. Sometimes, I would let go and she would stand there 1, 2, 3 seconds before usually sitting down. Now that might not sound like a lot, but when you've had a baby who drops right to the floor the second you let go of her arms, it is remarkable to see her stand even for just half a second on her own. It's great, and Ella has been quick to show signs of this, too.
It's great to watch them both experiment with walking and standing. They are so proud of themselves, and so happy when we do it. Oh, I forgot to mention a third walking exercise. Sometimes we walk with them under our legs, and say I'm walking with Ella towards Sarah sitting on the couch. When I get 2-3 steps away, I'll let go and she'll keep walking to the Sarah. This is somewhat less successful than the other two methods above, mostly because our baby is holding our hands while we are holding theirs, and even if I try to let go, she keeps holding on until we get to the couch. But sometimes it works. :)
