Houston, We Have a Walker...ish
About a week ago, Noah started gaining more confidence and taking a step here and there. Mostly, if I was sitting on the couch and he was standing at the couch, he might take a step around my feet and stand on my other side.
During this week, Noah has become more and more confident, walking 10 or more steps at a time on occasion. Sometimes he skips walking all together and will do his goofy crawl with one leg down and the other up.
Mommy and Daddy are so very proud and Noah is extremely proud of himself as well. When he walks and makes it to a couch or table, he will clap and my husband tells me that he has the biggest smile on his face. Of course, Mommy and Daddy smile and clap too.
As a blind Mom, this means a new chapter is about to open of “how do we handle this one?” Similar to every other milestone or challenge, we just figure it out as we go.
I have done some reading and have spoken to other blind parent friends about various milestones. Some use bells on their child’s clothing or socks to hear where they are at all times. Other children learn fairly quickly that when Mommy calls, to make a noise or to come over to their parent. In my case, I think I am just going to roll with it and see what happens, for now.
I don’t want to treat my baby boy any different just because I cannot see, and putting bells on him, at this point at least, seems cruel to me. Of course, this is my personal opinion and things may change. When he is even more mobile and we are outside or in public, I will need to make some modifications to this plan.
We do have gates in our house to keep him in certain areas, which is very helpful. The main floor is fairly large and only the stairs going up or down have gates, and there is a gate blocking the hallway to the bathroom and kitchen area. This will make it a bit challenging but in reality, he can’t go that far or really get into anything that he shouldn’t.
For some reason, just this past week, Noah wants Mommy, and I mean, all of the time. He does not want to be held or cuddled, but he wants to be right near me, touching me, or have me hold his hands to walk, even though he knows how to walk.
If I am in the kitchen doing something, he will come out of nowhere and stick his head between my legs. This poor kid, he is going to get knocked over from time to time with a Mom that can’t see.
It is early on and I am very excited that our little man has a new trick, but I am not looking forward to chasing him, or attempting to chase him when the weather gets nicer. That will bring on my next challenge. Until then, I am going to enjoy the smiles and the footsteps around the house, and the clapping of mere joy and proudness.