One Small Step for Maya...

...and one giant LEAP for babies everywhere!

Guess what everyone? I took my first steps this weekend!

It was quite a scene. I know many of you are probably surprised, because I didn't seem to show much of an interest in walking. People tried to hold me by the arms and help me walk around, but I just wasn't into it. You see, I'm an independent kind of baby. I like to figure stuff out on my own. I had been practicing standing on my own, balancing by myself, and walking around with the little push car that Uncle Chris and Aunt Stacy bought me for my birthday. But otherwise, I was content to crawl everywhere.

But last Thursday, I decided I was ready to walk. I was standing by the coffee table, playing and minding my own business, and Mami was getting ready to leave for work. She came over to say goodbye and kneeled on the floor next to me. I decided to surprise the heck out of her, so I took two wobbly steps right toward her! She was shocked, and so was Papi.

I did it once more on Friday, but decided to save the really good stuff for the weekend.

So Saturday came, and we were hanging out in the living room after I took my afternoon nap. I was sitting on my little push car, when suddenly I stood up and took a step toward Papi. I fell, so he put me back on the car so I could try again. It took a few tries, but I finally got the hang of it!

Walking is fun. I still have to perfect my skills, but I'm getting better every day. I have no fear, and giggle the whole time I'm doing it. I always end up falling forward into Mami or Papi's arms; they are afraid I will hurt myself because I am sort of reckless. But I'm not worried; I know someone will always be there to catch me until I learn! I'm such a lucky girl to have so much love and protection in my life.

So there's cool pictures to look at (you can make them bigger by clicking on them) but GET THIS: there's also a video you can watch! Don't you just love the Internet? I mean, what did babies do before the World Wide Web? How did they keep in touch with their loved ones who are so far away? Go ahead, just click on this link and watch!

Anyway, I hope you like the video and thanks for helping me celebrate this very important milestone. Mami and Papi were so happy, but I think they were also a little sad. I think they feel like I'm growing up way too fast. First I crawled, now I'm walking...the next thing you know, I'll be getting my driver's license and zooming off in my own car!

For now, I'm more than happy with my pretend car...