Annie Walks, Unprompted!

It started out as a typical Sunday, really. We went to Mass and then decided to try the pancake breakfast afterwards (which was a far cry from the Carolina Inn). The McNeils joined us, and the kids had a ball playing in the open gym afterwards.
And Mamma Noelle & Godmommy Laurie actually had a rare picture taken together: just US!
When suddenly, I turned around and there was Annie walking across the floor with no one watching her!!!
Then I caught her again later walking from the leap table to the little table. (And a third time from the kitchen cabinet to her little kitchen by the window.) And her walk is really funny, I wish I could have caught it on tape. The closest thing I can compare it to is a marionette. She lifts her knees up really high and kind of to the side, while her arms stick out to the side as well. Really cute!

Just within the last week Annie has allowed us to hold her hands and walk with her in places like stores and church and such (so I found myself using real shoes as opposed to lots of Robeez). It's never been that way before. Usually, she would just take our hand and immediately try to sit down. Papa kept asking me if we had been "practicing" with her, but it was kind of a vicious cycle, . . . how can you practice with a child who won't even try and that you can't reason with?

And in regards to the shoe question, I don't think shoes/robeez/socks/barefoot mattered at all because all three times today her feet were "dressed" in different ways!!! One time shoes. One time socks. One time barefoot. Go figure!

Even further, it's so interesting that Annie walked three times today with no one watching. It's almost like she was sick of all the hoopla associated with it, and just wanted to try it herself without all of the pressure. : ) Whatever works, little Annie. Whatever works. [And now I better video some crawling, because we're about to become a household suddenly bereft of babies, . . . and home to a true toddler.]