One small step for Jackson....

Jackson took his first steps today. First steps are arguably the most iconic of childhood milestones. He took his sweet time taking them, too. Even though he’s 13-months, and 15-months is considered “average”, it seems like everyone I talked to had kids walking before a year. He’s the only kid in his Gymboree class that can’t walk. And of course, in typical mom-style projection, I was terribly upset by this; as if Jack’s inability to walk early was the result of some failure on my part.

But then today, he just walked. There was nothing essentially amazing about it: he took two steps, and then just sat his little butt back down. But I was absolutely ecstatic.

I was excited for several reasons. First and foremost, Jackson was getting really heavy. He’s roughly the size of a collegiate shot-putter, and while I like having enough upper-arm strength to lift a Volkswagen, it would be nice to set him down every so often.

Second, there are lots of times when we’re out in public and he wants to wander around, but I refuse to set a crawler on a public floor. Dirt, I’ve learned to handle. But I can’t shake the feeling he’s going to catch something crazy like scurvy or The Consumption from public floors. Once he starts proficiently walking, I think I’ll feel better letting him explore. Until then, he just sits in my lap shrieking and trying to wrestle out of my grip in a vain effort to get down onto the malaria-riddled floor.

Third, there is just something indescribably adorable about the way a new toddler walks. They waddle around with their fat little diapered butts looking like a drunken Donald Duck from behind. It’s hilarious and painfully cute.

Finally, as I’ve mentioned before, I was beginning to think he was just never going to walk. He expressed zero interest in it. I had visions of him crawling around his college campus and crawling down the aisle at his wedding.

But with those first steps, all my fears were assuaged. Granted, it’s a long way from two steps to full-time walking, but it’s a start.

It was also an affirmation of exactly why I stay home. My sanity has taken a serious hit, and we have to live on one income, but seeing my son take his first steps made it all worth it. The thought of an indifferent daycare worker being the first person to see my son walk reminds me why we’ve sacrificed so much so that I can stay home. But I’m the one that got to see it, and I’m the one who got to hug him and shriek with joy and hug him after.

Now we just have to work on his talking….