FIRST STEPS!!!

Yesterday around 3:30 in the afternoon, Tenley & I were hanging out in her corral playing with her ABC ball and watching Blue's Clues....okay I was the one playing with the ABC ball, Ten was "cruising" around the edge of the corral and stopping in front of the TV to point at Blue and dance. Then she turned around and grabbed the edge of the corral from behind so that she was facing me as I sat on the opposite side of the enclosure. I smiled at her, held out my arms and said "Come to Mama!" expecting that she would reach forward and grab my hands so I could help her. But she didn't. Instead, she squealed and walked the 4 steps to my waiting arms all by herself. I was dumbstruck.

OH MY GOD MY BABY JUST TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!

I squeezed Ten & told her how great that was and how proud I was of her! She had a huge grin - I think she knew she had just done something pretty swell. First I called Daddy, who was thrilled and immediately asked if I had taken pictures. I had to remind him that I had not sprouted an extra set of arms when I became a mom (which would have been really helpful), so much like feeding the giraffe there was no way to get photos of the momentous event. He had forgotton about the lack of extra arms, but we both agreed it was damn cool to see your kid do this for the first time. Then I called Grandma Suzie, who was also thrilled and immediately asked about pictures. She had to be reminded about the lack of extra arms (but also agrees that they would come in really handy) and that Jeff was at work...which you would think she would remember since they work in the same place!! Then I called Aunty Meg who was flying and left a message on her cell. I couldn't call Grandma Barbara & Grandpa Dave because they're on a cruise.

Tenley happily repeated her new trick and walked straight into Daddy's arms about 5 minutes after he got home. Grandma Suzie called at 9 to find out why there were still no pictures of the milestone posted here. Today, we finally managed to get the picture you see above. The most she's taken is 7 steps, and she's usually way too excited about it and tries to run causing her to crash into whichever parent she was heading towords.

As proud as I am of her accomplishment, inside I'm also groaning: Ten is already extremely busy, and once she's a confident walker I think she'll be running everywhere. I see track shoes, exaustion, and a baby leash in my future. On the plus side, this means I can start putting her into all the cute dresses I have for her, and I should lose about 10 lbs. from chasing her around.

PS: If you haven't visited our website www.jeffandmichelle.net be sure to check it out. Click on Tenley's page and you can see Quick Time movies of Gotcha Day and her 1st Birthday! We'll post one of her walking as soon as we get some footage!!