She's A Walkin' Girl

Just shy of 13 months old, M started walking on her own today!  I found out when A.R. emailed me to say that his brother had called and told him she walked from couch to television while at my mother-in-law's house this morning.  (My mother-in-law watches M while we're at work and my brother-in-law has been helping her out while my father-in-law is in Puerto Rico.  She also watches two of my nephews everyday and occasionally my eldest nephew who is out of school this week.)  I actually instantly proved that I am a cheesy mom by proceeding to tear up at my desk at work as I told my closest coworker 1) because I was so proud and 2) because it killed me that I was at work and missed it.  It's missing milestones like this that make me HATE being a working mother.  I should be there to cheer her on and see her stick her tiny arms out straight in front of her and take those first wobbly steps.  Instead, I was dealing with yet another accounting system bug at work and answering another broker inquiry.

To further rub it in (not intentionally) that we were absentee parents, my mother-in-law called A.R. later in the afternoon to say that after her morning nap, M walked a few more times from couch to chair to television and back again completely unassisted and not coaxed in any way.  Of course there was no video proof, so I say it didn't happen until A.R. and I say it did! :)  My mother-in-law was just as proud of M as we were, so she just wanted to share it with us as it happened which I think is sweet.  As soon as I got to her house this evening she told me M had walked and I think her smile was bigger than M's. Such a proud Abuela to see her first granddaughter take her first steps on her own without being coaxed at all.  I am so thankful (and blessed) that M gets to spend her time away from me with family and someone who I know loves her just as much as I do.  The free Spanish lessons she gets everyday are an awesome bonus, too. :P