STEPS!

I feel I must stop and record this moment before another minute passes, before another detail slips away... to paraphrase a movie I recently watched, it was that moment, you know, the one where you realize that life as you know it to be, right now, will never be the same.

Alan is on shift today, so my father watched Aaron while Mom and I went to Bible Study Fellowship tonight. We got home at about 8:50pm and dad was sitting in the living room with Aaron and had a big grin on his face. He said "We've got something to show you, I think we may have had a monumental moment tonight." So he sat on the floor, stood Aaron up facing him and let go. Aaron stood for a couple of seconds, which is normal now, and then took about four steps toward my dad, all on his own.

A wave of emotion rushed over me. I was so happy I could have split in two - it was primarily a sense of great joy and being so proud of my little man. I was quite surprised that I didn't cry (happy tears) because that is more like me, but instead I had a plastered smile.

Aaron was grumpy because his night meal and bedtime get pushed back on Monday nights for Bible study, but we milked the moment a little more. I immediately sat down and had dad repeat but faced him toward me. Aaron was so happy that I was taking him back that I think he may have walked even further and ended by giving me a huge hug. He knew that he had done something fantastic because his Mommy, Grandpa and Grandma were all squealing and clapping so he too got a big smile and reveled for a few seconds, then remembered that his meal and sleepy time were long overdue.

Alan and I have seen him stand alone and even take a step or two - propelled more by momentum, followed closely by gravity, than interest in walking, but this time it was evident in his facial expression that he was making an effort to put one foot in front of the other. I was a tiny bit sad that I wasn't there when it first happened - but that doesn't really bother me. My dad said just before they left, "I'm just really glad he did it again." If he had not immediately repeated it, that probably would have stung a little bit. And it stinks that Alan was on shift - so as soon as we walked my parents out, we called him to report.

It was quite strange to look at him in those few moments and no longer see him as my little baby - he was standing for a prolonged period of time and then walking, however robotic, toward me. In his little football jersey and cargo shorts, he looked like a miniature man, with his arms outstretched, either for balance or in hopes that I would shorten his trip and provide assistance. It was great... a moment I will treasure. The look on his face in the last instant before giving me a big hug, you would have thought he just crossed the finish line of a marathon. It was great. One of God's many blessings... to encourage me in this journey. The dump of epinephrine and dopamine in those couple of minutes is likely to last me, at minimum, a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow we'll try again, when he is less tired and hungry - and of course we have to show Daddy. As with everything else, we are quite certain that he has been doing this for a while now, perhaps in his crib when no one is watching; because once he decides to show it to us, he is already quite skilled and it only takes a little tweaking. I'll try to get a video of our "tweaking" up in the next couple of days.