I Wanna Hold Your Haaaaaand

Now that Babykins is a walking machine, we got her new shoes that she can wear outside.

To celebrate this new purchase, Babykins and I decided to take a walk to the Post Office.  This consists of leaving our building, crossing the street, and walking across a parking lot.  On my own, I can make it in 5 minutes.  Thirty minutes later, we arrived. 

In that half hour, we discussed why cigarette butts are yucky and not for eating, chased a flock of birds, almost caught a bird and had a fright, stopped to examine the dirt in the crack in the sidewalk, walked back and forth between the sidewalk and the grass to figure out why they feel different under our shoes, and detoured into Sears for a quick ride up the escalator.  It was a major adventure.

After finishing at the Post Office, I was feeling brave and decided we could quick stop at the grocery store next door.  Within seconds I realized my mistake.  Walking Babykins quickly yanked her hand free from mine, made a break for it, and began pulling everything she could off the bottom shelf.  As I tried to put everything back in its place, she fled across the aisle and plastered herself to the door of the frozen foods, fascinated by how cold it was.  I got there just in time to see her lick the glass.

At this point, I tucked her into the one-armed football hold and made a dash for the produce section.  As we moved down the aisle of fruit, she started calling, "Nana, Nana."  I grabbed a bunch of bananas, broke one off, and gave it to her to hold.  It was like magic.  Babykins proudly cradled her banana and followed me through the store, thrilled that she was carrying her own Nana like a big girl.

An hour and a half after we left, we were back in the building, heading for our apartment.  As we walked down the hallway, Babykins reached up her little hand and grabbed my finger, holding on until we reached the door.  Now that Babykins doesn't need help to walk, there's something extra sweet about her choosing to hold my hand.  I know a day will come when she won't be seen in public holding my hand, so for now I'm cherishing every moment of having her little hand wrapped in mine.

Top 5 Reasons Babykins is AWESOME

It seems like every time I turn around these days, Babykins is adding a new skill to her list of incredible talents.  Here, a list of the top 5 accomplishments Babykins has achieved in the last month:

5. Brushing Her Teeth: With her one year birthday looming, Babykins still only has 2 teeth.  The fact that they're both on the bottom makes chewing difficult, but gives her an adorable smile.  To get Babykins off to a good start with dental hygiene, we recently gave Babykins her own toothbrush.  Whenever Hubbykins or I brush our teeth, Babykins follows us into the bathroom, takes her toothbrush, and moves it around her mouth in a super cute imitation of brushing her teeth.  No teeth are actually getting clean, but at least she now thinks using a toothbrush is a good time.

4. Stacking Rings:  Last week, after months of basically ignoring her Ring Stacking set, Babykins sat down, picked up a green plastic ring, and placed it on the stick like she'd been doing it her whole life.  Sometimes I think she just likes to see how easy it is to make me squeal in excitement.

3. Stacking Blocks:  While stacking the rings is impressive, they at least have a stick they go on that keeps them in a pile.  Stacking blocks is a whole different story.  Knocking down block towers that Hubbykins and I build has long been one of Babykins' favorite activities.  In fact, the desire to knock down block towers is actually what first motivated Babykins to crawl.  Last week, though, Babykins turned the corner, for the first time building her own block tower.  It was only two blocks high, but it was still very impressive.  She's up to three blocks, now, and I'm sure it won't be long before our little architect is constructing replicas of the Taj Mahal.

2. Saying "Puppy":  During our trip to Canada, we stayed with friends who have two dogs.  Once Babykins got over her initial fright, she fell in love.  Since then, every time we see a dog, she flaps her arms and squeals until they're out of sight.  Since we can't have a dog, Babykins has a little, brown stuffed puppy.  If you ask her where puppy is, she'll actually look around until she finds him, then make a bee line straight for his fuzzy body and give him a big hug.  Imagine our surprise when we saw puppies on TV this weekend and, after Hubbykins and I both exclaimed, "Babykins, look at the puppies!", Babykins turned to the TV and said, "Pu...pu...pu...puppy."  I actually cried a little at that one.

1. Walking:  I know I've already blogged about Babykins walking, but over the last week she has gone from a few hesitant steps to a professional walker (granted, one that still falls a lot, but she's at the beginning of her professional walking career).  She's even figured out how to stand up without holding on to anything, making it much easier for her to get going again after a fall.  The cutest part, though, is that along with doing the adorable "baby walk" - arms in the air for balance, tottering steps, and tummy sticking out - Babykins tends to twirl her hands while she walks, supposedly to help propel herself forward.

Ah, Babykins, some days (ok, everyday) you amaze me.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

Begins with a single step.  Which means that Babykins is on her way!  On Saturday, as Hubbykins and I perused the brochures at the Victoria Visitor's Center, Babykins was preparing to reach another milestone.  Instead of holding her hand to help her walk around the center, I put my hand under her arm.  As she motored along, seemingly without leaning on me, I removed my hand and Babykins continued on another step by herself!

Hubbykins and I clapped and cheered, thrilled to see Babykins' first step.

For the next 2 days, Babykins refused to take a step unless she was firmly holding on to a hand.  Then yesterday morning, Babykins turned into a crying, clinging meltdown.  I spent most of the morning carrying her around our apartment, then went to playgroup and put her down for a nap.

Babykins woke up cheerful and ready to play.  An hour later, she was standing next to the TV stand eyeing up her musical toy.  The next thing I knew, she had taken 3 steps and was calmly playing with her toy!!!  Since then, Hubbyins and I have taped multiple sessions of Babykins walking, and our little girl is now able to walk across the room by herself.

It's both very exciting and a little sad.  Babykins is growing up, and soon she'll be running off without our help.  For now, though, we're still happy to lend a hand whenever she'll let us.

On Your Mark...Get Set...Go!

In the ongoing quest for a good night's sleep, Hubbykins and I are on a daily mission to thoroughly tire out Babykins.  This has led to a nightly post-dinner, pre-bath "race" up and down the hallway of our apartment building.

One of us goes down to the end of the hallway to clap, cheer, and call Babykins' name.  Since Babykins prefers to walk, the other person holds her hands and helps her make her way.  This always results in a huge smile, and each night Babykins get a little faster.  When she makes it down the hall, Hubbykins and I switch places and help her walk back to the apartment.

I'm sure it sounds odd to the neighbors - clapping, cheering, and high-pitched baby giggles going up and down the hall - but so far they've all been polite enough not to peek outside.

By the end of the race, Babykins is sweaty and tired, Hubbykins and I have sore backs, and we're all ready for bedtime.

One day, when Babykins is preparing to run the 100-yard-dash in the Olympics, we'll be able to tell her how it all began - in a hallway in Hawaii.

Babykins' Hallway Racetrack