Gabriella's First Steps

When Gabriella first came home from Guatemala she was pulling herself up and scooting around while holding on to things. She would also walk around with the assistance of us holding on to both of her hands. She then graduated to "one" hand and kind of lingered at that stage for quite a while. During that time she would also stand unassisted on the bed. She would only do this in the bed, because she must have figured that falling on the bed wouldn't hurt as badly as falling onto a hard floor. She would clap while standing and even slowly turn the top half of her body. Standing on a bed certainly takes some skill, though, because it is harder to balance on a softer surface. So, we knew that her non-walking was more of a confidence issue rather than a skill issue. So, while walking with her we would often try to sneak our hand away and she would immediately purposely fall to the ground. We knew she would walk when she was ready.

Well...she was ready on Tuesday, December 30th! On that day we had the pull-down attic stairs pulled down in the hallway. My father and Ken were in the attic and my mother and I were watching Gabriella. Gabriella decided to climb the attic stairs. (Yes, we know this is dangerous, but our hands were surrounding her and we only let her climb a couple of the stairs.) The stairs are more like a ladder and about as steep as a ladder. It was hysterical and we laughed so hard at her determination and lack of fear. If we would have let her she would have climbed right up into the attic. My mother told her, "If you can climb attic stairs, you can walk!" So, she stood with Gabriella in the hallway while I stood a few steps away and she let her go. Gabriella proudly walked to me unassisted. We grabbed the video camera and me, Ken, Grammy, and Grampy cheered her on while she did it a few more times.

These photos were taken the next day on December 31st while visiting with Auntie Danie.

Look at the determination in her eyes!:

She was so excited!:

After each round she would clap proudly with us:

Each day she is walking a bit further and further and her confidence is increasing. Ken and I know we are in trouble now!