Peer pressure

Last Monday at the request of our pediatrician we took Penelope to Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare for her to get a physical therapy assessment. It was about an hour long and they were trying to get Penelope to perform her tricks. She did show her knee walking and walked a few real steps for them, but how do you explain to a 17 month old that you want her to squat to pick up a toy? I knew she wasn't doing so hot when they were asking if we've ever seen her kick a ball. We've seen her walk 10 steps at the very most, and she isn't a big fan of doing it. Soccer practice is not on her radar right now. They were very nice though. After 15 mins the PT asked "um, are you first time parents?" I guess worry was written all over our faces and in our voices. At the end we were told she is just at the far end of the development scale for gross motor development but she is still within normal. They told us to be very encouraging about her walking at all times. This is more difficult then you would think. We try to get her to get off her knees, and she turns into a screaming limp noodle, but we were working on it all last week and this weekend. They said if she isn't walking in 2 months to come back, but they were pretty sure she'd start walking on her own soon...remember she took her first steps about 3 months ago so it isn't like she doesn't know how to do it.

So then this Monday was Penelope's first full day in the toddler room. She successfully slept in a cot for 2 hours, which amazes me. I was told when they see all the other kids lie down on the cots they catch on pretty fast. I guess it is true! When I picked her up at the end of the day, she was standing across the room. I said "where's my toddler?" and she walked all the way across the room. I almost cried! She just needed some peer pressure from all those older kids. She still isn't walking much on her own, but she did hold onto my finger and walked with me all the way out of the daycare to our car and then cried when I picked her up. I'm hoping she'll be a full time walker by the time her cousin Dylan visits so they can run around together at the playground.