A study shows that 1 out of 1 Chandler Smiths prefer walking over crawling

It’s pretty amazing to watch a living organism evolve right before your eyes. I know this because I have played the game Spore. But also I know this because this week Chandler made the official switch from crawling to walking.

He’s been experimenting with the upright mode of transportation for a few weeks now. He got to a point where he could definitely take steps, but walking still wasn’t his go to move. If he needed to get somewhere quick and easy, it was back to crawling.

Well this weekend that all changed. I don’t know if he just finally gained enough confidence, or if he was having trouble with his knees and had a Lethal Weapon moment where he said, “I’m too old for this shit.” (My son isn’t potty trained and neither is his mouth) Whatever the reason was, Chandler is now a walking man.

I’ve noticed he seems to do better if he has something in his hands. I think this is because concentrating on what’s in his hands takes his mind off the walking and let’s his feet do what they should be naturally doing. I also think the need to carry things around might have been part of Chandler’s motivation to get up on two feet. Crawling with a toy truck in your hand is no picnic, but then again neither is eating at your dining room table…I mean literally that’s not a picnic.  

To encourage Chandler’s upward mobility we have started placing items in his hands at every opportunity. We started out with soft stuffed animals, but I have progressed to sharper things, like butterfly knives. Kids love butterflies.

Actually, we’ve seized the diem (or carpe’d the day) and turned Chandler into our very own extremely unreliable internal courier service. If Mommy is in the kitchen with Chandler and Daddy is slaving away in the living room on yet another grueling level of a video game and needs a delicious beverage to help him keep going strong, Mommy will send Chandler over to Daddy with an ice cold Mt Dew.

And if Daddy is in the living room working hard on yet another brilliantly insightful Facebook status update and can’t see his screen because there are too many empty Mt Dew cans in the way, and Mommy is still in the kitchen (doing God knows what in there…seriously, why is she always in there? And when is dinner going to be ready?) and Daddy wants Chandler to take some Mt Dew cans to the recycling, Daddy will give Chandler a few to hold and also stuff some down his onsie. It really is a good system.

So needless to say we are quite excited for Chandler to have taken this major step in his development (oh you know that pun was TOTALLY intended!), and not just because it benefits me so much. It’s also a lot of fun to see the excitement in his eyes as he realizes he can do it. It’s as if Chandler realizes that he is now that much closer to being a runway model, a Texas Ranger of the walking variety, or even a metal contraption with tennis balls on the bottom that helps old people get around.

So what’s next? Chandler can walk the walk, but when will he talk the talk? Stay tuned.