Walk

Walking.  We do it without thinking. We walk to get from one place to another.  I think about walking because my granddaughter is on the very edge of the important transition from crawling to walking.  She is almost there. Standing at the end table and with me holding out an old "Happy Meal" plastic Linus just out of her reach, she took one step without hanging on, sank to the floor and cried.  Does that count as walking?  I don't think that really counts.  She can balance on her feet without hanging on for several seconds.  She can squat with her feet flat on the floor without tipping over.  If she really wants to get something, she will sink the floor and crawl over to it.  If her first birthday party dress is too long and gets in the way of crawling, she solves that issue by crawling on her hands and feet instead of her knees.  Not the most flattering view for those she is crawling away from. Once she starts walking on two feet she will continue until, hopefully, the last week of her life, if she's lucky.  But she's not ready yet.  Developmentally she is not ready yet.  She'll be ready when she is ready.  And when she is ready, nerve connections and synapses will create muscle memory and she will walk on without having to think about it.  The shape of her pudgy little feet and legs will change.  The muscles and tendons supporting her bones will become more prominent with use.  The skin on the soles of her feet will get thicker, her ankles will slim down and her tiny little femurs will harden and grow stronger.  Walking will change her.  First she will walk in Italy and then perhaps all around Europe before walking in Minnesota again.  Where will she walk in her life time?  To the top of Mount Everest?  The length of the Appalachian trail?  Downtown Casablanca?  Around the south pole?  I don't know where all she will walk but I know walking will change her.  And I know that I am the lucky one to see her and love her while she is at the cusp between crawling and walking.