He Takes My Heart With Him

Jack is Starting to Walk!

Our little man is taking his first steps! Hurray, hurray!

Jack's walking has been a source of worry for us. His sisters both walked at nine months and his brother walked at ten months, so as Jack hit his first birthday and still wasn't walking, we worried. He has been seeing a physical therapist once a month, who evaluates him, and we belong to a physical therapy play group. The two physical therapists shake their head when I worry and haul out their charts. "See?" they say, as they point to age-appropriate milestones, "Most kids don't walk until they're one year old. Jack is right on target. Quit worrying!"

Being his mother, which puts me in the position as head-worrier, and knowing that he has spina bifida, I worried, anyway. I would watch how he moved his feet when he walked behind his walker. I would count how many seconds he could stand alone. I would hold his hands and encourage him to walk with me. He didn't like that at all. Crawling was much faster and gave him much more freedom of choice. My husband and I would sit a small distance apart and make a game of him "walking" back and forth between us. Still, he didn't walk.

Finally, it seemed, he began to show desire to walk. He would stand by the couch and let go, then bolt toward the other side of the room. He would take two or three fast, off-kilter, lurching steps before falling, face-first, on the carpet. Poor little guy! We were so happy to see him trying that we would laugh as we picked him up and loved up his owies. He had decided he wanted to walk, therefore, he thought he should be able to. He neglected to take into consideration that he should practice and go slow, first.

Now, our little toddler is toddling! His record is about half a dozen steps, but he regularly is able to take two or three. We are so proud of him. This little boy has overcome so much and is so determined. He doesn't realize that there was ever even a question that he might not walk. God's love is so much!