New Obstacle to Walking

Whitney loves cruising around the house with her new walker. In the month she's had it, she's become much more comfortable with the pivoting front wheels as well as ability to back up when she gets in a tight spot. She does laps every day and is very good at cutting between the table, chairs and counters in the kitchen. Then she'll cruise back into the living room slalom style around all the toys.

But one major new obstacle to walking around our house has arisen. It's little brother, Liam! He's beginning to be interested in walking and standing as well. So Liam thinks it's fun to grab the side of Whitney's walker as she goes by and use it so he can pull up to a stand. But he's so heavy that it stops Whit in her tracks. This really ticks Whitney off and she instantly starts voicing her disapproval with angry shrieks. Liam, of course, thinks the whole thing is great because he gets to stand up and he gets all kinds of attention when he does.

One day when Whitney was tired of Liam's teasing, Melanie and I decided to teach the little guy a lesson. Melanie stood Liam up behind the walker and made him hang on. Whitney kept right on walking like nothing had changed. But instead of letting go, falling and leaving his sister alone, quite the opposite happened:

So instead of discouraging Liam's walker grabbing and teasing, we created a new game for both he and Whitney to play. Whit doesn't seem to mind and Liam thinks it's hilarious, as you can tell. Sometimes parenting by accident is the best way to go!