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Victor has decided he’d like to go for a walk. It’s possible this could be a simple youthful phase he’ll eventually work himself through, like wanting to learn Latin or voting for the NDP, but so far he seems pretty serious about getting somewhere.

So far he can stand on his own, and walk beside one of us as we hold his hand. But he has definitely taken a few steps on his own.

This is how it happened:

First Victor learned how to flip from his back to his belly;

Then, in August-ish, he started to crawl;

While we were outside taking photos of Victor in the fall leaves, Diane held both of his hands and showed him how to put one foot in front of the other;

He started to use the sides of his crib and playpen to pull himself up to a standing position;

Then he learned how to fall properly (ie: not landing on his face), by twisting his body so his hands hit the ground first;

Then he figured out how to shuffle his hands and feet so he could walk inside of the crib/playpen using the bar for support;

Next was learning to balance using one hand on the bar;

After that came stretching from one object to another, like from a coffee table to his excersaucer, so he had to let go with one hand and fall to the other object with the other;

And then, just to mess with us, he started taking his pants off… like, I’d change him into clean pants, then turn around to get his socks and turn back to see him dancing in his playpen with no pants on;

About this time he also started standing up in his crib / playpen, and supporting himself only using his front teeth by biting the bar;

Then, about a week ago, Diane came walking out of the bedroom holding Victor’s hand, and Victor had a big smile and was putting one foot in front of the other. For most of the trip, however, it looked like Victor was pulling Diane.

The one thing he hasn’t figured out yet, thank God, is how to raise himself from a sit or crawl position, directly into a standing one, without using something to pull himself up with. Diane has seen him standing unassisted in the playpen though, but she’s pretty sure he got there by climbing.

All I know is, at this rate, by March he’ll be flying. At least levitating.

He has only taken a handful of steps on his own, but that’s what a beginning is.

It’s still surprising how steady his legs are when he’s standing. I have a video from just three weeks ago where Victor was standing up, using a coffee table to steady himself, and he was still having real problems unlocking his knees so he could get back to the floor.

A few days ago Victor and Diane went for another walk around my apartment, and she let go and stood back a little and Victor managed, with very little effort, to stand all on his own.

So, on two separate occasions that I know of, Victor has stood on his own, and taken a few steps… and neither time did he ask if I wanted anything from the kitchen.

We’ve come so far together, but there’s still so much further to go.

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Victor is also stacking things, like his cereal puffs and toys. If his excersaucer is parked too close to a chair or coffee table he’ll gently stack his stuff, so it’s out of his way.

At the same time Victor has also learned how to throw for distance. Until now he’ll take a toy that’s in his way and just drop it off his excersaucer, then lean over and look to see where it landed. But now he can toss that same toy nearly across the room. It does make him happy.

But he does share. If he’s eating his cereal snacks, and you hold your hand out, he’ll make sure you get a cereal puff as well. At first he’d hand you a piece of dry cereal, only to come back a second later and take it back. But now he’ll wait for you to eat it.

He’ll be in his excersaucer, and just stop everything to watch you put the light-as-air puff into your mouth, then jump around smiling like he just watched the greatest thing ever.

One weird thing he’s been doing for a while now is… he’ll be in his excersaucer or highchair, look up directly at a ceiling light, stretch his head and neck towards it, put his arms in the air with his palms up, and make a duck face with his lips.

Sometimes he makes little vibration noises. It looks like he’s giving a shout-out to an Aztec god. I have a couple of photos of him doing it, but I really want a video.

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Photos Of Victor’s (Walking) Week:

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Bonus Photo Of Victor’s Week:

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