*”The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Posted on February 28, 2007 - Filed Under Uncategorized
This quote is attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the founder to Taoism.
BIG NEWS: Tuesday, Maggie took her first step!!! Here’s the play by play. I was sitting on the floor with Maggie playing and Erin was on the treadmill, able to see both of us quite well. Maggie was standing, unassisted, as she has been doing now for at least six weeks or so. I handed her this big inflatable ball, which she gladly took. And for some reason, she moved her left foot forward one step. It was really cool because Erin and I both got to see it happen. Erin has been kind of coaxing her a little, so maybe that has begun to pay off. Anyway, apparently she took two more steps, this time one right after the other, today at the Little Gym.
It’s really kind of funny. I am really hesitant to give Maggie ‘credit’ for having done something until I know she intended to do that thing. It might sound like I’m being a jerk, but in truth I’m not. You see, I think that we as parents get so happy when our children do things that we will see those things when they’re not really there. We want to see them so badly because it makes us feel good, not because we’re happy for her that she is developing. So, it’s for us; it strokes our egos. Maggie could really not care less; she is only doing what is coming naturally to her. She doesn’t even begin to comprehend the significance of walking, talking, etc. Anyway, sometimes kids do things by accident and we jump up and down thinking that because they said something that sounded like ‘Mama’ at 5 months old, our little princess must be a genius. Then, as the months go by and she doesn’t say it again, we’re disappointed. We wouldn’t be so disappointed if we simply acknowledged at the time that, yes, it could have been ‘Mama’ but given her age, it was likely meaningless and unintentional. And that’s why I am so happy about Maggie’s steps: I know that, given her developmental pattern and progress to this point and her age as well, she has begun the process of becoming bipedal.
Comments
5 Responses to “*”The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step””
Leave a Reply
yea, MAGGIE! Now mommy and daddy will get the test of patience and being as fast following you. They will know what jumping and running after you is like. Tee Hee.
congrats maggie, thats a huge milestone!
Now let the real fun begin. With her birthday only a couple weeks away and begining to walk its official she’s a toddler. Enjoy theese moments there gone before you know it.
Whoa y’all!! It’s just one or two steps.
Don’t go buying her a pair of soccer cleats or signing her up to participate in the ‘Walk For A Cure’ just yet. She’ll get there fast enough.
thats what i’m trying to say!!!
“Whoa y’all!! It’s just one or two steps”… you’re going to learn real fast that little ones skip the walking part… it’s not too early for those soccer cleats