Toddling Toddlers, Batman! It's Jax 1.0!

It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that I hoped for the day when Jax would be walking. Geez, it doesn’t seem like that long ago when he was still a baby in the belly and I was full with so many visions and hopes for the future. Visions of days when I could hold his hand and we could walk to the car…or the mailbox…or numerous other places. So much to hope for.

Picture it: June. In Texas. Sweltering heat. School’s out. I have the ENTIRE summer ahead of me. Just me and my Jaxon Jedi. There are so many things I want to do. He’s 9 months old. Crawling has happened…in fact he’s pretty damn quick.

He crawls so fast at times, it’s hard to keep him corralled. He’s gone before you realize it…giggling as you chase after him. He speeds over to the couch, pulls himself up to standing for the very first time. But does he stop there? No. That’s not enough for my little overachiever. Nope. He tries to climb the furniture. He doesn’t make it. But he certainly tries. This may not seem like a big deal to any of you, but it was pretty spectacular in the eyes of his mommy. I was so proud. Seeing my little bug growing up…making developmental strides.

I take him to his 9-month check up and Doc asks if he’s crawling. “Yup!” (Proudly exclaimed by none other than moi.) Doc asks if he’s pulling up. “Yup!” (Once again, proudly exclaimed.) Cruising? “Y---ummmm…no.” (Uh-oh) Doc was a little surprised he wasn’t quite there yet—especially since his legs were so “strong” and he was such a “mover”. Hey, his words, not mine. The worry starts to set in. What have I done wrong? What did I NOT do? Why isn’t he cruising?!

And so, like any typical mom, I began to wonder if my lil Jedi was behind. Behind the other kids his age. But, unlike height and weight, they don’t really have a percentile measure for these developmental breakthroughs. Or, at least not one that I’m familiar with. So, I have no way of knowing where he really stands in this ridiculous measure of relativity. And it IS all relative.

The next 2 months FLY by. Jaxon and I enjoy our summer. We go to splash pads and we hike. We take morning walks and visit Daddy and other friends for lunch. We go see free music. We play. We play. We play. We have fun at the library. It’s the 1st summer of the rest of our lives and we’re lovin it! Oh…and he finally starts cruising. At this point, I’m so excited. This means bigger things are just around the corner. But it’s getting closer to the end of the summer, and my current mommy worry is walking. Will he be early? Will he be late? Will he have trouble? When’s he going to take that first step??

I was DAYS away from going back to work for the ‘10-‘11 school year. I was worried he would take his first steps at daycare. Someone else would see the things meant for ME to see. Luckily, Jax had other plans. Will I be here to see it?? Yes. As a matter of fact, I would.

The first step was on my watch. It was ever-so-tentative, yet bold at the same time. The look—concentrated and determined…mixed with a little fear. But just a little. His strategy? A deep breath and a jump off the cliff. Well, not literally a CLIFF, but it must’ve seemed that way to him at the time.

He raced over to the well-worn couch and pulled himself up to standing (a pattern for him by this time). He turned around and leaned back against the cushion, exuding confidence. He looked me dead in the eye and smiled. I swear he winked. (Ok, so maybe it wasn’t THAT dramatic, but it sounds pretty cool, right?) He peeled himself away from the couch. He gained his balance. Steady…steady… He let out a little giggle, took a step and fell into my lap as I sat waiting on the ottoman. I cannot describe how excited I was to have seen this moment. It was amazing. I was so proud of Jax. I kept urging him all day long to do it again so I could see it again…and get it on video. That woulda been cool.

Now, he’s a year old. And he’s walking. EVERYWHERE. He walks from the living room to my bedroom and back. He walks to the bathroom to take his bath. He’s still a little unsteady at times, falling over here or there, but it’s definitely become his preferred method of transportation. He’s proud of himself when he goes from one room to another. He feels like he’s finally able to be in control and do what the big people do. It’s his new thing. He wants to do it all the time. And Jax 1.0 is on the road to mastering it.

Does he know all the things that await him with this mastery?

• Shoes. (I can’t wait to buy him some lil Pumas…and Chucks…and Adidas!)
• The great outdoors. (Camping and hiking!!)
• Dancing. (Oh, yeah, baby. My kid’s already a lil groover. But just you WAIT till he’s really able to move those feet.)
• Running.
• Skipping.
• Jumping.
• Sports?
• Bike-riding?
• Skateboarding?

Wow. So much ahead of him. So much that I can’t even fathom. Not to mention the learning experiences of scrapes, bruises and skinned knees. And (hopefully NOT!!) broken bones. He is a risk-taker. I see this in him. He’s not afraid to take risks with language. He’s not afraid to just go for it with so many things. He’s always in that state of “Look mom, no hands!”…and he’s only 1. Before I know it, he’s going to be doing much more than I have even imagined. More than I had hoped. And he’ll be gone before I realize it…giggling as I chase after him.