First few steps

Leah is 14 months going on 15 months and Chris and I have always said that we would never rush her to walk and that she'll walk when she is ready to walk!

For the first time, Sunday, October 11th, I was going to finally learn to let go of Leah and let her be in childcare at Church so that she can play with other kids her age and for me to be able to sit through a whole service with my husband instead of being out in the lobby taking care of Leah. My plan didn't work out to well though...I didn't realize that I was suppose to register her prior to service so I ended up just staying and watching her play and socialize. After being in there for less than a minute I started to feel like a horrible mom....I was watching all these little kids ranging from 9 months - 18 months just walking around playing with toys while my Leah was crawling around with no care in the world just minding her own business. Some were talking up a storm and here I am looking at my precious Leah crawling and barely even talking. She just knows the 3 words she's known for months - mommy...daddy....what's that. I started to question myself...Am I doing the right thing by not pushing her to walk? Should I only teach her English and just drop the Chinese? Maybe I should've taken her to more play groups and join MOPS? Am I sheltering her? ETC.

After praying and asking God all the questions that came to mind and seeking his guidance, I knew that I was being ridiculous and that each child is different and will learn at their own pace and to truly not compare her to others. I was reminded of all the positive things that Leah has already accomplished. Potty training at a young age, learning 2 languages at once and for the most part understanding what I say in both languages, crawling like there's no tomorrow, going up and down stairs even before she learned how to crawl, and drinking from a straw and sippy cup before she turned one. Of course after that reminder, I didn't feel the need to rush her to walk and actually felt kind of stupid for comparing her to others :)

The following Sunday, which was October 18th, Leah took 3 steps towards Chris in the family room. We never pushed her to walk or even encouraged her until then. The next day, Leah doubled that and now she has tripled that, even though most times she would rather crawl to her destination then take the time to walk over there. The hilarious part is that she knows that she's doing good...after she falls down from trying to walk, she'll sit there with a big grin and clap for herself as to say "Good job Leah! You are doing great! Keep up the good work". She crack me up!! Even though I miss her baby phase, I am really enjoying her toddler phase and just seeing her grow and learn new things.