Walking!

Last week, I was talking with both Porter's Physical Therapist and another Down syndrome mom about how it can be difficult to "call" a milestone. Progress can be so slow on some things. Each child with Down syndrome is different and while Porter excels in many areas, physical skills (gross motor) are his biggest delay. He has REALLY low muscle tone. With crawling, he did an army crawl for months before he got up on hands and knees and crawled. And, with walking, it's been slow and steady progress. While he took his first official steps months ago, I wouldn't say that he was walking. For weeks, we've been stuck at 11 steps. And, they're always on his terms. He gauges the distance between point A and point B and you can see his little brain thinking "can I make it?"

His teachers have been encouraging him to walk. They've been building it into the routine. He's been walking from the table to the trash can, carrying his trash (less than 11 steps) pretty consistently.
Last week on Thursday, he decided it was the day...the day to smash his record. He surprised his teachers by walking short distances on his own from activity to activity throughout the day. He floored his PT when he decided to take 53 steps without stopping or holding onto anything during PT that afternoon. He decided, on his terms, that it would be the day that we can really say "Porter can walk." He still crawls at times...after all, he's fast and furious there. But he's officially walking more than he is crawling. Sometimes it's holding the hand of a friend. More than ever before, it's taking independent steps. We've still got a long way to go, but we're going on foot! Exciting times!