I saw my nephew this weekend -- he’s 11 months old and he’s able to take five steps.
He knows he can walk, and he loves to practice, of course. But it always takes him a while to muster the courage for that first step. We were encouraging him, but he was just standing there, thinking really, really hard. Here is what I think was going through his head.
Then after five steps -- boom! He would either fall forward into my sister's arms or plop down into a sitting position. Both of these scenarios are much better than what my daughter used to do. She would remain ramrod straight and fall backwards like a tree. Even if no one was there to catch her.
(Thankfully, now that she’s six, she no longer does this.)
