Enter toddler, exit baby

(edited to add picture)
Linton's walking. It's been a week now, but I'm still mistified by his pretty sure steps. All this week I'd be working at the computer, and then I'd hear this noise and wonder, who's that? Oh, yes, it's Linton walking by -- it does sound completely different from the softer noises made from crawling on the carpet, and different from Kelvin's more "mature" steps.

All right, I admit that by the "medical definition" (taking 3 steps) he's been walking for well over a month now (he actually took his first "3 steps" the day after the doctor told me this definition at the 12 month check-up), but my definition is a bit more comprehensive. For me, walking means walking not just from me to the sofa, or taking a few steps and then falling down, which he was doing a lot, but walking away from people, and walking, say, all the way from the living room to the kitchen. That only started last week, and he's already trying to "run" and jump. I thought he'd walk earlier than his brother, because he started crawling almost 2 months earlier, and was always very strong. I was actually wondering why he wasn't walking, since he knew how to, and his legs were (are) so strong that he could get up without support when sitting on the floor, and, when standing, squat and get right up again. I started to joke that he was a perfectionist, and only wanted to walk when he felt he'd be "perfect" at it. That's a "possibility" given how sure he looks now that he's doing it.

I'll miss my crawling baby, though, since they say now he's no longer a baby, but a toddler. And it's really amazing, but all of a sudden he's doing so much in such a short time! Saying new words everyday, pointing to objects, wanting to eat only by himself... And he does look like a whole new person now that he no longer needs to be a "quadruped", but can join the rest of his family in the biped world : )