Independence Day

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 1:6)

July 3-4, 2010



Soooo... for all of you who have seen the little Princess in the last, oh say, seven weeks, this should be no surprise to you: Naomi Hope is walking! When she turned one in May, I made a guess that Miss Mimi would be walking around 14 months. Actually, to be more precise, I predicted that she would walk by July 4th. I'd say it was probably a combo of "Mommy knows best", God heard me loud and clear, and Naomi unconsciously reaching a goal I set for her, but baby Ganda officially walked on July 4th weekend! Here's how it happened:

From Independence Day

Leading up to "the big weekend," around the same time that we bought Naomi her new car seat, we also got her one of those "walker" toys to help her practice. Not the kind that she sits in (she already had one of those) but the type that she could push around like a shopping cart. We would hear stories from Teacher Adela about Mimi standing up for a few seconds but not taking any steps. We also saw her take two or three steps at home before carefully sitting down - like she knew that she couldn't balance so she didn't bother trying.



One cute thing that Naomi did before walking was to "knee-walk." She would get in the kneeling position and scoot around on her knees. It was her adorable way of getting around without crawling in a semi-upright position. Of course, she also liked to stand up and furniture-cruise.



I was thinking that she might be one of those babies that just "gets it" one day and takes off running! It didn't happen quite like that, but pretty close. Tita Angeline was staying at our place for the 3-day weekend. We all went to church on Saturday night and watched the service from the "Family Room." Naomi was scooting around on her knees, but she was really determined to stand up and furniture-walk along the chairs. Our friends at Cornerstone were encouraging her as well: Catherine, one of the children's ministry teachers, would hold her hand and walk with her, while Sam, the usher/greeter, extended his hand out for Naomi to reach out to. "Any day now!" they both said.



Little did we know how soon it would truly be. That same night, July 3rd, Richie stepped out to rent a movie while Angie and I played with Naomi in the living room. Everything was just "normal": Angie was chilling on the couch, I was sitting on the floor, and Mimi was practicing on her walker. The magic happened when Angie got up from the couch to go to the kitchen. Next thing I see if Naomi walking across the room to follow Tita Angie! I couldn't contain myself! "Angie! Angie! LOOK NAOMI'S WALKING!" Angie turned around and Naomi just stood for a moment. "WOW! YOU'RE WALKING MIMI!" I guess I must have been too excited, because she sat down and started crying. Oopsies. "It's okay, Naomi, Mommy's just so proud of you!" When Richie came home only moments later, I was delighted to share the wonderful news! It was only about 8 steps, but it seemed like she coulda gone more if there was room and I hadn't embarrassed her.



The next day, July 4th, Naomi was practicing her new skill with a new found confidence. She just needed to get over the initial fear. She liked starting off holding one of our hands and then letting go. Here is a video of our little toddler:



For the fireworks festivities, we walked down to the Emeryville Marina. Even with our jackets and hats and blankets, it was freeeeezing cold! That didn't stop Naomi from having a great time. We had a nice view of the Berkeley fireworks conveniently located just a hop, skip and a jump away. Mimi stayed up for the entire show, but once we put her back in the stroller and strolled home, she was out! She must have been pooped from all that WALKING!!