Early Walkers vs. Late Walkers

Well I was wrong. I quickly found out after having my first baby that it matters very much what month your baby starts walking. Same with sitting up, crawling, talking, potty training, and so on. It's almost like it declares the intelligence of your child so it's like an unspoken competition amongst some moms.

I knew Piggie was likely going to be a late bloomer when he never aced the whole rolling over thing. Like, he didn't roll over until he was probably two and was in between running and wrestling around. We don't know when he rolled over because he never did it as a baby!

One by one, all of my friends' babies started crawling, and then pulling up, and then walking. And Piggie was still barely learning how to sit up. I then started getting advice on what I could do to make him walk. Put on better shoes. Put him in a walker. Don't pick him up so much.

And one day, as I was sitting with a mom friend on my sofa, she told me that she believed the reason why her son walked so early was because she didn't put him in "any type of contraption, like bouncers"...as Piggie was bouncing a foot away from us! 

So yeah, I was in for a rude awakening as a first time mom when it came to the whole walking thing. Piggie walked at 14 months. And he walked like a pro. And that's the thing about him, he's very cautious. The more I learned about his personality as it started to come out in toddlerhood, I realized why he took his sweet time to hit milestones. He's laid back, somewhat shy, not overly interested in finding out what an old, dusty cookie behind the couch tastes like.

And then there's Dacky, my second baby. Walking by 9 months. It makes me laugh a little because he's been in a bouncer more than Piggie ever was. But personality wise, he's very different from Pig. He's the opposite of cautious. He will eagerly and happily eat the dusty cookie.

Now that I've had one late bloomer and one early, I can easily confirm what I always knew, which is that intelligence plays no part in how soon babies develop. Nor does it have anything to do with what us as parents do. My second baby didn't walk at 9 months because I did anything special. My baby didn't walk at 14 months because I did anything wrong. They just walked on their own schedule.

Now, which one is easier? Moms with early walkers always say "Oh be glad they aren't walking yet, they get so much harder!" No, actually, it gets easier. Yes they can destroy crap, but I'd choose that over having to carry them around. And the general age that they start walking is prime time for them to be in the clingy phase, so it's much nicer when they can follow you around rather than you having to carry them everywhere.

And did you see my baby when he was in the second half of his first year?

9 months old and 26 pounds. That's what I got to carry around. That ain't even right.