He's Walking!

The two pictures below are from February 27:  the first day Jack pulled himself up independently, thus beginning his long journey to becoming a walker:

That day I firmly thought that Jack would be walking shortly.  Well, we waited and waited and on March 20 he took his first steps while holding my hands.  I was so excited!  From there he began cruising around the furniture and walking confidently while holding on with two hands.  Here he is at Rainbow car wash right before our vacation:

Fast forward two months, and Jack decided that it was time to let go of one hand - sometimes!  The past few weeks we've been making him walk more often.  We decided that he's got to get used to walking, since we won't be able to carry him around as often once his sibling arrives.  At times he has loved it, and at times has fallen to the floor, lifted both arms, and yelled, "Mama!"

Both grandmas have been encouraging him to start walking.  With their cheers and help, he decided to walk between them on May 27.  At that point, he still hadn't done any independent walking for us:

Jack decided yesterday that he was ready to start walking.  He started in the morning by walking to my mom when she stopped by.  By the time we got to storytime, he was walking confidently around the library. That night, he walked right up to Nana at her house, and then finished up the night by walking up our sidewalk to our front steps.

I've been amazed at his ability to slow down, turn, and change directions.  He looks like he's been walking for more than just 24 hours!  He still needs to figure out how to go from the sitting position to standing, but once standing he can take off with no problems!

I think that this whole process has been a good peak into Jack's personality.  He is content and laid back, and likes to sit back and observe before taking a big leap.  It's fun to watch him grow and see parts of his personality come to the surface.  

Way to go, Jack!  We are so proud of you!