WALKING!!!!!

Exciting news at our house today! Rachel is WALKING!!! All by herself!!! Not just taking a few tentative steps, mind you...she literally took off like a rocket today! This is how it happened:

This morning I was sitting on the playroom floor with her. She stood up about 2 feet away from me, and let go of the shelf she'd been holding onto. She stood there for a good 15 seconds or so, without holding on to anything! This in and of itself is an accomplishment, because prior to this she has stood without holding onto anything for only VERY brief moments, before sitting down abruptly. While she was standing there, I said, "Come here, Rachel!" and she took about three or four steps to me!

I called Bill, who was upstairs, and he came down, and we sat about 6 feet apart on the floor. We got her to walk between the two of us several times. Then, one time, she walked from Bill, right past me, to the play table! Then she turned around, completely on her own, and kept on going! It was as if she said, "Enough of this walking in a straight line...see ya later!"

Within 5 minutes of taking her first few tentative steps, she was walking around and around our house, doing "the loop" from the playroom to the living room to the foyer to the kitchen and back to the playroom. She continued doing the loop multiple times without falling or stopping!

Since then (about an hour and a half ago) she has just continued to walk around the house. She is so proud of herself! Megan is really getting into it, too, chasing her around and making her laugh. When we come around the corner the opposite direction she is going, she screams in delight. She's walking around carrying her baby doll, which doesn't seem to throw off her balance, and she's able to make complete 180 degree turns and go the other direction, all without falling. All of this TODAY, when yesterday the best we could get her to do was walk holding onto our hands!

I guess she just had to decide that she was confident enough to do it! Bill joked that she's probably been doing this all along, just when we haven't been looking. To see her, you would think she has been walking for months. It's incredible. If you don't believe me, watch the above video....taken just a few minutes ago!!!!! (Just don't look too closely at the messy house!)