Monday, August 2, 2010

Walking Machine

I got this tip while we were in Florida, and decided to give it a try (thanks, Magan!!!). 

Piper walks, great, with two-hand support.  She’ll go anywhere you take her (or, rather, she takes you), and her endurance is really good, too.  She’ll walk with her little walker, if someone is touching her (that someone doesn’t have to be doing any work for her, however).  So walking with the stick seems to be a good transition piece, because it doesn’t allow personal touch.

And guess what?  It works.  It works, it works, it WORKS!!!

Get ready:P1070003

Get set (remember the arms-reach rule with the dogs???):

Go!!!P1070005

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Instead of using a broom stick, I went ahead and got a shorter stick from Michael’s, because the broom is a little big for our house.  And I could get it a little smaller in diameter this way, too, which made Piper feel more secure. 

Yesterday we were playing this game, and I kept lowering the stick until I wasn’t holding it at all.  Piper stood all by herself (while holding the fairly heavy stick, mind you) for a few seconds by herself. 

The best part about this, though, is that she’s walking with her walker by herself, now, too!  It seems like we always have to give her the confidence to do a skill, and make sure that she feels like she can do something.  Her confidence is always behind her actual abilities; I hope that someday it’ll get easier for her to try new things.  But, in the meantime, we’ll just give her all the chances and make sure that she’s trying to do the things we think she can do!

9 comments:

  1. She's is doing sooo good!!! I'll have to try that with the stick but not any time soon! What type of walker does she have?

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  2. Oh, I can't stop giggling! As soon as she's got it down, PLEASE take her out in public and photograph the faces of people watching your 4 month old walking beside you. She is simply amazing.

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  3. GO PIPER!!!!! That is so awesome!!

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  4. That's amazing. Especially considering how premature she was! We're trying to convince our 20 month old to walk forward while holding our hands. He's fine if he's walking sideways while holding onto furniture, but as soon as we try to get him to step forward while holding our hands....he plops down like a sack of potatoes! :) Maybe we'll try the stick.

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  5. Awesome! I will have to try that because right now little one wants nothing to do with her push toys. Piper sure is a mover!

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  6. Awesome job Piper. We are going to try that too. Alayna is the same way with confidence, she waits until she can do something really well until she will show it off. I can barely be touching her hips and she will walk across the room.
    I am with Courtney I want to see the look on people's faces when your "baby" is running past them. Hahaha.

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  7. I'm going to have to try this trick with my baby at work who turns(ed?) one, today. She is so so lazy, doesn't cruise yet or crawl properly! I too am curious what kind of walker she is using. Is it a regular baby walker?

    I love reading all of Piper's updates!

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  8. Congrats, go Piper go! Jack is the same with needing to hold onto something. I'll try the stick, thanks for sharingGreat workout for you guys too.

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