After writing Friday’s post, I hit publish, poured myself a glass of water splashed with grape juice, and then Nola walked from me to the refrigerator in five successive, successful steps. Apparently, I just needed to put her near-misses out into the electronic ether in order to give her the motivation to finally start walking.

Moments later, she took four steps to grab onto Marcy the dog’s jowls followed by five toddling steps to Constance, who missed the first two attempts while on a conference call. Thankfully, she was working from home and got to be there on the day our little girl started walking.

A lot has changed in the 10-plus months since Nola’s arrival and of all the milestones, this one was the coolest. Babies make it hard not to be cliche because, as much as you tell yourself that every baby walks and that every parent feels the same helium-filled swoon you felt the first time your baby walked, you still manage to feel like what just happened is the most important thing going on in the world despite tragic earthquakes, March Madness, ongoing war, and the Oscars. And it’s also impossible not to feel like your baby has done something truly monumental.

And you know what? That’s what makes it so damn great. It’s nothing but it’s everything.

I’m not one to brag, especially about something that happens so frequently and soon will become commonplace and ordinary in my own life. But for today, I would just like to take a second to brag about my smart, physically gifted daughter, Nola, who learned to walk last Friday.

Filed under: Daddy Things, Firsts, News from the Parent Front, Nola Eleanor