Monday, March 03, 2008

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!

5 comments:

bella said...

Oh my gosh that is so great! And the giggles!? Priceless!

Thanks so much for sharing this one!
bella

Kajsa Farnsworth said...

I am watching this without sound and can still tell what a great time these two are having!

Whitney is a great walking teacher - send her over to our house!

Nate said...

Thanks you guys! It's sure fun to have Whit and Liam around our house. You should see these two doing their walker trick. It's happened several times since I shot that video.

The best was the other day when Whit was going around the living room in it. Then Liam grabbed on behind and stood up. But Whit backed up and made him sit down and let go. Liam was so disappointed! There's always something new going on at our house.

Carmela said...

They are adorable!! Gabriella says she really misses you guys, and she wants to go to your house to play! :)

Nate said...

Hi Carmela! It would be so fun to get together again. Whitney just craves more interaction with friends that are more like her. Maybe soon we'll have to start talking about another big get together. I know our family would really love that!