Ever since his crawling took off, Jacob's been very resistant to let us help him walk. We'll encourage him and try to get him up on his feet, but he drops to the floor and scatters away after just a few steps. We've had a baby walker toy since before Christmas, but all he's ever wanted to do is play with the toys on the front of it. He's great at pulling himself up on the furniture and "cruising" and has been letting go of things to stand independently for a few seconds at a time... but he just hasn't been crazy about trying to walk. His therapist recommended putting stickers on the walls or kitchen cabinets and getting him to reach for them and walk along the wall or to get some chunky magnets for the fridge. We've been doing that for a couple of weeks now, and I think it's really been helping to boost his self-confidence and improve his balance.
About three weeks ago, I was playing with him and trying to get him to walk behind the walker. His first and second attempts were a little wobbly, so I stayed right by his side in case he started to tumble over. By the end of the second stretch, he was doing pretty well. So, the third time, I actually got him to walk halfway down the hall completely unassisted!
And then he was back to having no interest at all for several weeks. :P
This past Saturday, he actually initiated using the walker and has been making several trips around the house with it a few times each day. Usually he does one stretch and then drops down and crawls the rest of the way... mostly giggling like crazy because one of us are always behind him "chasing" him and he finds that hilarious. :)
April 20th
Jacob's walking is starting to come along more and more each day. Sometimes I wish he would just hurry up and "get it", but I know that once he does... we're going to be a lot more tired than we already are with chasing him as he crawls away from us!
This week, he's been seeking out his walking toy and has figured out how to maneuver it himself when he gets stuck up against the wall or a chair or something. He's much more interested in using it to actually get somewhere instead of just for practice/play. The difficult thing for me is telling him "no" when he uses it to walk to the door (wanting to go outside) when it's pouring or freezing outside.
He took his first unassisted steps a few weeks ago, and I've seen up to nine wobbly independent steps in a row. Generally he'll take about four or five steps before falling forward, and he's great about putting his hands out to catch himself. Dave and I have been giving him some extra practice by having him walk back and forth between us for hugs or to get a toy. He seems to have more confidence in himself when he knows we're right there to catch him if he starts to fall the wrong way. He still holds onto things for support most of the time and only lets go if he wants to turn or take a step or two towards a toy so that he can be closer to it when he plops himself down to the floor. I'm sure it won't be long, though, before he's all over the place.
(The "action" here is in the first couple of seconds; I kept filming hoping to capture some more.)
