A big step for a little guy

Well, Emerson has definitely been training hard recently and it finally paid off today. The little man took his first steps. Hurrah! And, ever the conscientious boy that he is, he picked the weekend to pull off his feat so that Daddy would be here to see it.

I'm actually a little surprised that he took this long. I didn't have some crazy high expectations set, but I thought a lot of evidence had been pointing to early walking. He's been cruising on the furniture since he was 6-7 months old, and first the laundry basket and now his wagon have gotten serious work outs being pushed back and forth across the floor endlessly. You should see him with the wagon. He hauls ass all over the place, quickly taking a sharp corner or a full 360. I keep expecting him to start popping wheelies like some crazy BMXer so skilled has he become with his wagon driving.

Aside from his wagon tricks, his other favorite "sport" has been going up and down the stairs. He's like a man obsessed. Thank goodness our house is only one story otherwise that's probably all I'd be doing all day. He got his first taste of the crack last weekend at our friend's place which has three little stairs that lead down to the back patio. For like half an hour JD and I took turns up and down, up and down. Then yesterday, we were at Zorn's (another friend) for a barbeque. He has a great 3-floor condo with an awesome rooftop deck. Well, forget Disneyland we're just going to keep going to Zorn's because Emerson was in heaven with four, count them 1-2-3-FOUR flights of stairs between the bottom floor and the rooftop deck. So up and down he went with me holding him by the hands. We did four full rounds up and down before I finally had to pull the plug. My beer was getting warm and my hotdog cold, so it was finally time to call it. So like I said, he's been training hardcore.

Today was a lazy Sunday like any other. He's been standing on his own a lot lately which he was doing as usual today. We always try to give him some cheerful encouragement every time he does it to see if he'll be bold enough to take a step. Well, today he finally was. He was standing and just did a quick little step step, then took a knee. The crowd went wild. Emerson was also clearly pleased with himself. We tried to get him to do it again but he didn't seem to be feeling it. But then a few minutes later, the magic happened again. This time taking several steps before plopping down. So there you have it. Time to hide your valuables, he's on the move.