Walk the line

Kitten is now walking around the circle of our kitchen, dining room, and livingroom holding onto just one finger. She has been pushing her wheeled toys back and forth across the livingroom for two weeks, but two days ago I held out my hand and she just took it and went.

She's getting pretty good at walking now, too. She's getting much more confident, even switching hands mid-circle (although she always wants you to hold her right hand when she stands up). She took a step a couple of times last night between objects and she stood still on her own for up to 5 seconds a couple of times too, before falling down out of fear.

So we're getting close to walking. I'm excited because it would be nice to be able to have her walk out to the car or over to the playground, or just out in the yard. Plus, there's just geeked out parent excitement watching your kids do stuff for the first time. It's knowing you had a part of it, like inventing the wheel just for this kid. Or, at least knowing they will learn in spite of you, no matter how lame you are.

But I am also terrified that she will want to walk everywhere, and then will want to take off. She continues to test us around the house, just to see where the line is and what we will do if she crosses it. So we might be investing in a leash, another thing I said I would never do, but would so do.

In other Kitten news, we are now brushing her teeth nightly. I brush mine and she lets me brush hers. It's only been a couple of days, so I'm not super concerned yet about how clean they are getting, just that she gets used to the process and the brush. This is a child who will not wear a hat, so I expected getting a toothbrush in her mouth to be much more difficult. The only problem is that she sees me close my lips around the brush, so she closes hers. So now I have to brush with my mouth open so she will open up and I can brush her teeth. But it's weird. Try it and see if you can do it without drooling toothpaste all over yourself.