I’m just people watchin’

I think we’ve officially entered the realm of the walking. 

Angel Face, born with a dislocated hip that kept her lower body in one contraption or another for the first six months of her life, has always been a little behind with the physical-development stuff. She sat up right on schedule (she worked her stomach muscles lifting and lowering her lower torso while it was encased in plastic), but she didn’t roll over until nine months and crawling didn’t come until she was past ten months. 

We weren’t in any hurry to see her walk. But now that she can get more than half a dozen steps without falling down, there’s no stopping her. We took her to a baseball game this weekend to see our local minor league team, and she did very little sitting down. We mostly walked around the concourse, with Angel Face decked out in her Chicago Cubs jersey and a hot pink baseball hat (Momma loves the Cubs to Daddy’s chagrin – he’s a Cardinal’s fan!). Every few steps she’d stop, look up at passers-by, wave and say, “Hi!” as if she meant to say “Look at me! I’m walking just like you!” 

Sunday afternoon at the ball park was the best. We ran into my boss, who tossed a baseball back and forth with Angel Face – (she can throw forward already!) and the pediatrician, who is about six weeks away from giving birth to her own little one. Angel Face played with another little boy, ate French fries and ice cream, and when she got tired, pulled her blanket out of the stroller, spread it in the shade and laid down for a nap.  

There was a moment when I looked around me, at my wonderful husband and my fantastic daughter, and thought how great my life is. It was one of those cheesy, Hallmark moments that I’ve suddenly started to have all the time. So Angel Face, I have you to thank. You’ve made me whole.