Motor Skills

We're on the move here in the Palte house! Trike riding, scooting, and WALKING all over the place!

Emily used to get very frustrated with the tricycle. Pushing the pedals, steering, watching where she was going...it was all just too much. I wanted to try to help her out by pushing the trike so she could focus on steering, but she wanted to do it all herself, so I all I could do was watch. I could tell she REALLY wanted to learn how to ride. Our sidewalk is slanted, and she was learning how to ride downhill, but whenever she turned around to come back uphill, she would give up in frustration. For the last month or so, she has been pedaling backwards and forwards across our front patio, which is nice and flat. Yesterday, I asked if she wanted to bring the tricycle down to the sidewalk. She put her helmet on, got on, and started riding...and didn't stop! Yeah Emily!!! Good for you! Nice job sticking with it!






While Emily gravitates towards the tricycle, Addie has always gravitated towards the scooter. Addie has been practicing the scooter quite a bit, and is getting really good at coordinating steering, balancing, and scooting!







And, last but not least, we also have a WALKER! Elizabeth has been taking more and more independent steps over the last month, but starting last week, she really truly became a walker. Her little toddle brings smiles to all of our faces, especially hers! She is so proud of herself, and we are so proud of her! Go Elizabeth! (Just a note on this video - she began her first symptoms of Hand Foot Mouth on the day it was taken, and she wasn't feeling great, so she was getting really frustrated that I kept walking away from her and that's why she cries at the end. I will try to get another walking video soon!)



Here's a video of Elizabeth taken the week before, when she was using the baby stroller as a confidence crutch. As you can see from the way she's flinging the stroller around, she would have been fine taking steps on her own, but it took her another week of practice and confidence building before she started truly taking steps on her own.