It’s difficult to imagine sending my child to school at the age of 11 months, but since the program is called “school”, I’ll play along. In reality, the program is a well planned day care with a 3:1 child/teacher ratio. Regardless, it broke my heart to leave Lucy behind, even if just for 3 short hours. She sensed what was happening and broke into tears as soon as I made a motion to hand her to one of the teachers. When I started to leave, the screams became unbearable.

I stuck around in the hallway for a few minutes. The crying stopped and when I snuck a glance through the window, she seemed interested in a wooden toy. The teachers said she wasn’t truly happy until they went outside. That’s my nature girl!

So for the next few months I’m going to be taking her to school twice a week for 3 hours at a time. I hope it gets better.

I have been going outside in the mornings to take Lucy on a tour of the yard.  I really didn’t come up with this great idea, she points at the door when we walk downstairs in the morning.  She LOVES getting in the grass and walking around.  This morning the grass was especially wet with dew but it didn’t seem to matter at all.  The picked up pine cones and started carrying around a small stick like it was a prized possession.

Her walking seems to be really good when she is in bare feet.  When she is standing still, I think shoes give her some good support.  But when she’s moving in the grass, she definitely prefers to go bare footed.

Our first pair of baby shoes just arrived!  I shopped at several places around town and the supply was very limited and none of the shoes were small enough for Lucy’s little feet (she needs a size 3).

I ended up buying from ShopCupcake and chose the Kai Run Henry brand.  They are so cute!  They are also having a sale right now…so I bought two pairs

Wow-Wee! I’m so proud! Lucy has been standing unassisted for some time but always drops to her hands and knees to move.

Last night, right before bedtime. She was standing by her crib with a cute little ball in her hand and a determined look on her face. I held out my hands to her and she took one wobbly step in my direction, really slow. And then came step 3, 4 and 5 in a dash before she plopped down on the floor with a big smile on her face. I couldn’t believe it!

I called my mom and she said to me, “You know what this means.” What? I asked her. “You’re going to have to buy her some shoes!”

We just got back from a visit to the in-laws. And I don’t want this post to be a gripe about my mother in-law, so I’ll just ask, “WHY CAN’T YOU REMOVE THE POISONOUS PLANTS FROM YOUR HOUSE?”. There, I asked. Really, after they lost a puppy to those plants, why are they still there?

But what I really wanted to say was that Lucy was really cruising this weekend and really enjoyed getting under the kitchen table and hanging on from above. She looked like a little monkey and was grinning from ear to ear. I think she will be walking in the next 6 weeks.

The whole concept of “letting go” is starting to take form. I have a hard time letting go and letting her fall. But I know she will learn to balance herself and break her falls without a hovering mother. But it’s still hard.