Toddler Thursday: You've got to walk before you can run
Sarah K.K. here, back with another installment of Toddler Thursday:
That's how the old saw goes, right? "You've got to walk before you can run"? Someone forgot to tell toddlers.
When my son first started to walk (right around his 1st birthday), he was understandably pretty unsteady. They call walking a controlled state of falling, and when you observe a child learning the skill, you can definitely see that. Unfortunately, far before his sense of balance was ready, he turned into a wannabe speed demon, rushing around faster than his little legs (or his growing brain) could take him.
That began the bruised-forehead stage of his life, and it hasn't ended yet. A couple of weeks after those first unsteady steps, I got a call from daycare. Isaac had been running on the playground, totally misjudged the blacktop and face-planted. He scraped his forehead and his nose, and when I went to pick him up, they even warned me before I saw him, telling me that he had hardly cried. I, however, almost did when I got my first glimpse of his injuries, even though he was beaming at me at the time.
That healed, and since then, it's been a constant battle to keep him from bonking his head when he's rushing around. We don't always succeed, so there's been a bit of purple, green or yellow on his forehead pretty often since then.
My friends in moms' group were talking about this right around when everyone turned 1, and what a relief it was to discover that we weren't the only ones who couldn't stay a step ahead. That asuages the Mommy Guilt a little.
We also laughed when we noted that when the kids get tired, their balance seems to be one of the first things to go. As bedtime approaches, it sometimes looks like they've been throwing back a few too many at Happy Hour.
Now, at almost 17 months, he's much steadier on his feet, most of the time. But his confidence has increased, too, and so has his curiosity. So now the little daredevil has yet another bruise, just another piece of evidence that he's growing up and trying new things, and sometimes running into walls.
We'll see what the next step brings.
(Photo by me)
Comments
Love the photo! What a cutie.
SarahKK: Thanks, Jamie!
Posted by: Jamie | November 23, 2009 9:36 PM