Yes, I CAN!

People who study child development have often said that babies can't learn to talk and walk at the same time. Because of that, we often label our children as being "verbal" or "physical" based on which order they chose to develop each skill. Now that we are parents of a second child, we are, of course, experts on child development and have added our voice to the many who say that major skills like walking and talking need to be taken one at a time. Josie talked at 9 months but didn't walk until 16 months 1 week. Even today, Josie is more verbal than physical.

And then there was Norah. Now that Norah is over a year, we are often asked if she is walking or talking. Our common response is that no, she isn't doing either because she thinks she can do both at the same time. Miss Norah is fairly physical -- she is a climber and she is definitely more adventurous than her older sister. But at a year, she wasn't walking. Was she talking? Well, sort-of. She had her inflections and babblings for certain things. We knew what she was saying, but no one else would have. We kept teasing Norah, telling her to just concentrate on one or the other because babies can't learn to walk and talk at the same time. Norah would just giggle at us -- as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

Over the last two days, Norah has become increasingly verbal. She is repeating words, she is interested in communicating and wants to be a part of every conversation. This isn't to say her words are clear... she is just a baby, after all. But she has a rapidly increasing vocabulary in just the past two days. Not only does she say Mama, Daddy, hi, bye-bye, yes and boom, but she also says versions of these words: Josie, cat, blanket, thank you, Alan (friend at church), Emma (Josie's Friend), buckle, out, and the list goes on. The last two days has been a joy to be present as this part of her brain developed. The way our children learn language has always fascinated me.

But Norah wasn't going to stop there. She was not going to let us be right -- she was going to prove that she knew what she was doing. Last night, at 13 and a half months, Norah walked. Just three or four steps, but she walked. She took a step or two Wednesday night in the church nursery, but last night, she walked repeatedly. And I have to say, she did it like it was no big deal. Truly, I would have to say she even did it with a smirk on her face as though to say, "told you I could do it!" Apparently, Miss Norah is going to be the child that will not be held back by what the norms are. You tell her that she can only walk OR talk... and she will prove us wrong and do both. Look out, world... Norah will not be held back by your societal standards!

I don't have any pictures or video of her walking -- that will have to come another day. I do have this silly picture of Norah in one of her new onsies for summer. We always buy clothes a little on the big side -- we figure if we buy them when they fit, they won't fit for long. We just didn't think we were buying them THIS big. Where are her knees?!?