Our baby is upwardly mobile!

At least for the most part! Since last Wednesday at Nana and Papa's house, Grant has been walking more and more every day. Before that, he would only take steps when we'd set him in front of us and encourage him to walk (and even then, it was only a few steps before he bent down and started crawling). And he never seemed to care much for walking either....he's a very fast crawler, and I think it was frustrating for him to try to walk and to be so slow at it! He'd take our hands and walk alongside us a lot, but just didn't want to do it on his own.

But last week at Nana and Papa's, he walked to me probably 7 or 8 times in a row, and was so proud of himself every time! And since then, especially since we've gotten home, he'll stand in the middle of the floor and all of a sudden start walking, instead of bending down and crawling! Last night, he made it all the way from the middle of our den, around the couch and over to the pantry in the kitchen (about 15 feet), and today he even went a little farther! And now he thinks it's fun....he'll falter and fall down, then stand right back up and keep going!

He still does crawl quite a bit....especially when he needs to get somewhere quickly (like the kitty litter box, before I can reach him to grab him away from it!). But I think a baby learning to walk is one of the cutest things; with every step, their chubby little legs lift up so high and their little bodies waver from side to side as they concentrate so hard!

A few days ago, we were unloading groceries and Grant just insisted on getting down and walking on the driveway. He'd walk a little, fall, walk a little more, and he eventually ended up in the neighbor's yard. I tried to take his hand and steer him back towards our house, but he wouldn't accept my hand to help him (which hurt a little!). He wanted to walk on his own and go where he wanted to go! But he hasn't completely given up on our help....when he's uncomfortable with the situation or tired, he doesn't want to try to walk on his own....he'll still grab my hand to help him. At least for now!

The picture above is a little old....I've taken a few walking pictures this week, and will try to upload them soon....