Toddling

My little girl is finally toddling! She took her first steps unaided a couple of months ago, but only started confidently toddling around by herself last week (16 months).

It’s  amazing when they first start walking – they look so grown up and all of a sudden you realise that your little one is not a baby any more!

The down side to this is that with walking they develop independence – they can get everywhere, very fast, and you have to have eyes in the back of your head!

F has now decided that she is far too grown up to be carried or be pushed in her buggy and wants to walk everywhere (usually holding one of my fingers), which means that journeys take a lot longer than usual. This is not helped by the fact that she insists on stopping and waving at everyone we see, pointing at every car (“brum brum!”) and touching flowers and plants on the edge of the path.

 I am really looking forward to buying her first shoes! Most experts agree that you should keep babies’ feet free from shoes until they have been comfortably toddling for several weeks, as walking barefoot can help them develop better balance and their feet shouldn’t be restricted too early as it may affect the development of their bones. However, we have temporarily bought her some flexible rubber soled cruisers for walking outside as the ground is now too wet and cold for bare feet/socks! Since buying the cruisers she has become more and more enthusiastic about walking outside and the rubber soles allow her to walk on rougher surfaces such as gravel etc.

We may have to go shoe shopping soon…