Frankie has finally decided to walk! Since he’s already 17 1/2 months old, and the developmental “deadline” for walking is 18 months, we were getting a little nervous. In fact, in the spirit of full disclosure, I contacted Early Intervention (a government program for developmental delays) about a month ago to get him evaluated.
So far, he’s been evaluated by a physical therapist, a developmental therapist, and a speech therapist, and it does appear that he has a slight delay, since he’s not talking yet and has some sensory issues (certain noises and situations easily upset him). So we’re going to be seening these therapists once a week or so. It actually made me feel BETTER to think that it’s not just me, and that he is a little more sensitive than other kids. You know that nagging feeling in the back of your head that tells you something’s not right? Well, I had that feeling. Mother’s intuition, I suppose. Does this mean that something’s wrong with Frankie? Not at all – according to the therapists, he is perfectly healthy and has no physical problems, but he may need a little extra attention and a “push” in the right direction. His sensory issues make him more stressed out than normal, which means he’s more focused on that stress than on exploring and learning. But that’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a little nurturing and extra attention.
Anyhoo, here’s the funny part: after he saw the physical therapist for an evaluation, he started walking. May I remind you that before this, he refused to walk, even when holding both of our hands? And after this woman played games with him for an hour, he started walking all over the place holding onto ONE hand. And after doing that for about two weeks, all of a sudden this past Saturday, he just took off. The woman has the magic touch, I tell ya.
He thinks walking is hilarious! He laughs almost the whole time while doing it. And while he stills falls down and sometimes still wants to hold our hand, I can tell that each day he is getting stronger and stronger. I’m so proud of my little guy! See, I told you that he’s totally healthy, but that stubborn streak of his means that he won’t do something until he good and ready, darn it!
Here’s a video we took of Frankie’s first steps from this past Saturday. Please ignore my annoying, high pitched voice. Do I really sound like that?
Frankie learns to walk! from Mary DiMaggio on Vimeo.
