He's a CHAMPION!

REX IS WALKING!!!!!! My baby is walking!! Over the last week, Rex has turned a huge leaf! It's been a very busy week too. Without getting into detail, our cousins Elia, Alejandra and Aile moved to Houston over Easter weekend. Aile is 4 months older than Rex and they have always had this bond anytime we would get them together. Since they're staying with us, obviously Rex and Aile have been spending a lot more time together. I don't think it is coincidence at all that Rex really started moving this week with Aile being here.

Last Saturday, April 7 (the day before Easter), Corey and I took Rex to the park. We sat a good 15 yards away from each other on the playground and Rex walked between us perfectly! We knew then, for sure, that he was able to do it, he just needed the confidence to do it. Awhile back, Rex had gotten to the point that he would walk a good distance in the house if we would stand up and back up to make him go further. At that point, we thought it was just a matter of time til he started really walking on his own. We hit a roadblock when he fell one day at Corey's moms when Corey stepped back like that. Ever since that day, he would not move if we were standing up. We could stand and tell him to come, and he wouldn't. We could squat and tell him to come, and he wouldn't. As soon as we sat, he would come without hesitation!! Little stinker had gotten too smart and figured out our tricks! So that Saturday at the park, when he was going that far, we put him to the test. As he was on his way towards me from Corey, I stood up and he literally stopped in his tracks and sat down as soon as I was up! We got the biggest kick out of it but to be completely honest, it was also frustrating because we KNEW he was able to do it. He was just afraid. Elia, Alejandra and Aile got here Sunday and Rex has seen Aile, who has been walking around everywhere for awhile, everyday since. I noticed about Wednesday that he was starting to cruise a lot more around my mom's house. He was holding on to the walls and door frames to get around rather than only holding on to furniture and going back and forth between them. That is when I posted on Facebook that I could finally "officially" say that Rex was walking but still needed some work. He continued doing this over the weekend.

This last Sunday, April 15 was a rainy day here in Houston. Elia, Ale, Aile, Rex and I went to church that morning then ate breakfast at my mom's. At this point, Rex was still just cruising. I was feeling lazy when we got back home so I laid down to take a nap. By the time I woke up, we noticed that Rex was walking around without holding on to anything!! So literally from one hour to the next, he went from cruising but having to hold on to things to completely walking on his own! AMAZING!! We were so so so excited!! I really really think Rex seeing Aile gave him that extra push to walk. I'm so glad he finally got that confidence he needed. I think one of the most difficult things to deal with through all of this was knowing that he was able to do it, he was just afraid. We couldn't do much to "fix" that besides encourage him and praise him as much as possible.

We still have things to work on. Since Rex never crawled, he doesn't use his arms very well. When he falls, he doesn't use his arms to catch his fall and goes belly first or head first instead. Needless to say, when he falls, we typically have a mild meltdown so we definitely still need to work on teaching him to use his arms. Pulling up is still a challenge as well. He pulls up great on anything he can grip with his hands and fingers. For example, he pulls up great on our couch that has a thick thread on the edge and pulls up great on the edge of the bed where he can grasp the sides of it. He also has a toy basket that we weighted down so that he can pull up on that. He still struggles with pulling up on anything else. Again, because he never crawled, he didn't get accustomed to getting on his knees to pull up so that's another missing step. We're also working on standing up freely without having to pull up on anything. I know with continued hard work, all of these things will come with time, just as his walking did. We are so so proud of everything he has accomplished already!

After posting the video showing Rex's walking progression, I was amazed at all of the words of encouragement and loved seeing how excited everyone was along with us! Rex is a very lucky little boy to have so much love all around him. We're beyond thankful for the words of praise and encouragement! It means a lot!

Not going to lie, I'm a little anxious for someone random to ask or say "Oh I bet he's walking all over the place!" Now I can say "Yes! He sure is!!"  :)