4 Weeks...

Today is November 14th. That means Ryan has 4 weeks from today to learn to walk. In 4 weeks she will be 15 months old and her doctor said he wants her walking by then or she will need to start therapy. She was 12 months old and had just started pulling up good when he initially told me this so I wasn't worried. 8 weeks have passed and she has regressed and can barely pull herself up and can barely hold her own weight if we can get her to stand by straightening her legs for her. I wasn't worried at 12 months, but I am getting a little more worried now. With Noah I wanted him to walk and do everything so quickly, but then soon realized he was growing fast enough on his own and the quicker he walked, the quicker I had to chase him. So, I have not been pushing Ryan as much as I did Noah - I am still chasing him so I didn't want to have to chase her too. She started pulling up and I just assumed she would be "cruising" around the furniture next and then walking - but that has not happened.

Scooter in action :)

Someone informed me that it was my fault because I didn't make her crawl - she is a scooter. I am not sure exactly how to "make" a baby crawl. She has always hated being in crawling position and once she figured out how to scoot she never looked back. She can carry things while she scoots just like if she is walking so she is not missing out on anything really. She has scooted so long and always drags her left leg while she scoots that it is weaker than her right leg that she pulls with while scooting. So, when she stands, it is her left leg that is the problem. If she is laying down she can sometimes rollover and cannot sit up from laying flat at all.

This is how her left leg does most of the time while she is standing.

Ryan has always been slow on the milestones - she was 9 months old before she was able to roll over and I worked with her a lot on that because she was SO close for SO long and Noah was 6 weeks when he rolled over so it worried me that I was neglecting her since it was taking her so long, but that is just her style apparently - she is a last minute kind of gal!

Her right leg is extra strong though!

So, if you think about it, please say an extra prayer for Ryan to start walking soon. I know she will walk, in her own time like with everything else, but I don't want her to be delayed and as her mother I have to stay on top of things and make sure she is developing properly. I do need to brag on her a little too - she is doing amazing with her talking - she will repeat most anything I tell her to and she is learning to point to her body parts when I ask her where they are. Now, if we can just get her walking and talking she will be unstoppable!