Thursday, November 12, 2009

Scooter No Longer

Today Tobin turned 22 months old, and today he hardly scooted at all.

Amazingly enough, walking is now his chosen mode of transportation, at least most of the time. Based on how old Josiah and David were when they started walking, I wasn't expecting Tobin to break any records and be an early walker...but I also wasn't expecting him to be quite this late. It's taken him a solid three months--from his first steps recorded here until now--to develop his walking ability to the point where it surpasses his scooting ability. But now--wow!--even within the last week, we have noticed such a change in his walking: so much quicker, so much more confident, so much more often! When he's in a hurry, he still scoots occasionally; but for sure, his walking surpasses his scooting in frequency.

I vividly remember how excited we were when Josiah began to walk, particularly since we had to wait so long for it to happen. I feel the same way about Tobin: the fact that he kept us waiting just makes it that much sweeter to see him walking so well now. We can tell he's proud of himself, too; and we delight in noticing and applauding his progress.

As always when faced with such transitions, I feel the bittersweet nature of it. Are we really (almost) past the scooting stage? Is he really growing up and able to walk now? Will he really be able to carry his own weight soon and not have to be carried all the time when we go places? I'm immensely grateful for the little videos we have of him scooting; I would be so sad if I didn't have those to help me remember this special, unique, quickly-departing phase of Tobin's life.

One thing is for sure: even though Tobin is now definitely a walker, once in a while we'll still call him Scooter. ;)

~ a couple of old (from the end of September), not-so-great pictures...I don't like the shadows on his face, but I do like his expressions--first thoughtful, then joyful...and I do love him!!

4 comments:

Patti said...

We had a little friend named Andy at the park close to our old apartment who was a bottom scooter until he was 2. I remember seeing him a few months after he was walking and telling his mom that I missed the cute scooting all over the park. She laughed and said she did NOT miss the holes in the bottoms of his pants!

bekahcubed said...

Ah, what a joyous and melancholy day. Congratulations Tobin!

Sally said...

Way to go, Tobin! I know both Paul and Hannah were happier, more content children after they were walking, and they were much earlier than Tobin. I'll bet he'll experience the same satisfaction!

Elizabeth said...

Oh he is so PRECIOUS! I love those videos you posted of him scooting and was AMAZED at his unique ability. I have never seen a child do that before!