Lena Gets Moving

Update: Additional, mostly new photos were added on 5/11/13!

The room fell silent as Lena unexpectedly walked a record 10 steps during our student ministry outreach event last night.  This morning, she took around 30 steps away from her bedroom door!  And her new walking skills were the center of attention this afternoon at the L.A. Fitness "Kids Club" during my workout.

Ever since taking her first steps a few weeks ago (video clip here), Lena has been dominating the floor of every room she lands in.  After all, her earlier attempts to walk have already been drawing crowds for the past 19 months!

Here are few previously unreleased photos from the long journey of Lena getting up and moving:

We're not going back to the very beginning (that would be 9/10/11!), but we have to start somewhere.  At 6 months old, Lena strengthened her neck muscles enough to lift up her head...

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...Then, we propped 8 month old Lena up against a step in our living room...

...And Lena soon developed the core muscles to sit up on her own!





Next, Lena learned to climb up the step in our sunken living room...







...And then, for the first time, she bouldered her way back down!









I'm so glad that I had my camera handy as Lena bravely navigated her first stair!















Then, Lena had to figure out how to crawl...

At 16 months old, we fully expected Lena to be walking already. She continued to try new things, though, like when she tackled the stairs of our rental house in Sunriver.

That same weekend in Sunriver (The story of Brent and Cheryl's wedding is here and here), Lena mastered the art of letting go with one hand while standing.



Lena eventually learned to briefly stand on her own, to bounce while standing, and to take a few steps while holding onto the hand of a grown-up.


As most readers know by now, this all led to Lena's big, long awaited moment last month:

The day Lena took her first steps!

We're taking Lena to the Portland Zoo tomorrow to celebrate her turning 20 months old.  Now that she's occasionally on her feet, my load just got 24 lbs lighter!

Coming next weekend on Garth's Blog...

A photo-filled Mother's Day tribute to Kathy!!