When Hannah learned to walk, she had about a month of taking a few steps here and there, and then one day she just decided to walk full time. The next day she was walking while carrying things, and a few days after that she was running.Jack has been TOTALLY different. He started taking steps, and then for months was content to walk holding on to things (especially his push toy walker) only taking a few steps on his own every now and then. He learned to do things that Hannah learned after walking, like going up and down stairs by himself, but still would only walk holding on to something. For the past probably two months, he would even walk holding a corner of my skirt, proving to me that there was nothing wrong with his muscles, he just didn't WANT to walk!
About a week and a half ago, I started noticing Jack walking long distances (like across rooms) if he thought we weren't looking, but the minute we looked over or cheered for him, he sat down and refused to walk any more. I started to wonder if he was afraid we were going to stop holding him or hugging him if he walked. Who knows what was going through his busy little mind!
Today I decided I'm calling it. He walked by himself about 90% of the time today, and several times even carried things while walking, which is supposed to be something learned AFTER plain walking. I hope this means he is also over his phobia of walking in public, because he's sort of hard to carry for long distances!
Jack is 17 months and 6 days old. Our pediatrician assured me on several occasions that the normal range for walking is up to 18 months, and that there was nothing wrong with Jack and he'd walk in his own time. She mentioned that what's really worrisome is kids who don't crawl. I have read in several places that kids should never be forced into walking, because crawling helps a crucial part of brain development and it's important for their development that they crawl for a sufficient period of time before walking. I guess Jack is all set as far as that goes, as he crawled for almost 8 months before walking!
I know I say this all the time, but I'm continually fascinated by how different kids are in their personalities and development, even within a single family and even at very young ages. I'm interested to see how Sarah progresses!
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Tom was also 17 months old when he finally started walking unaided and, like Jack, had been walking with barely any support for ages before hand. Lily started walking on her first birthday...I think boys just like the easy life! Why walk when there's someone around to carry you!
By the way, I laughed out loud when I read how Jack would sit down when he thought anyone was watching him walk.
Yeah for Jack! I am so ready for Frances to start walking. She too is very good with push toys and walking around furniture, but alone, no such luck.
Wade was 18 months old before he walked, and it goes with your crawling theory...he is (in my humble opinion) extremely smart! ;-)
I hope Frannie takes after him!
It is amazing how totally different children are. Morgan took her first steps on Father's day (2 weeks before her birthday). But honestly, if someone would carry ME around, I sure wouldn't walk either! It will be interesting if it is more of a gender difference when Sarah decides to walk. Of course, that means she has to get here first! :)
Lauren barely crawled. She was almost 11 months old before she actually crawled. She did a lot of scooting and rolling, but very little actually crawling. About a week later she started cruising the furniture. Another couple of weeks later she walked. Almost immediately after that she ran and climbed everything she could find. She is definitely my more physically gifted child. I've always wondered if her short crawling time would affect her in any way though. So far she is very bright and very coordinated. We'll see!
Hoooray for Jack!
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