Room to Roam

Today, while Nick was at work, I rearranged our living room.  This used to be a very regular occurrence in our house.  Before we had kids I would change up our furniture arrangement every few months.  Nick would come home to find our heaviest furniture in new locations and would just smile at me, shaking his head.  Today’s move was different.  Unlike the rearrangements of the past, this was not born out of boredom or restlessness.  This was a very well thought out and needed change.  Nick was very aware of the plan, and it was for our son.

Christian has been starting to move around in his walker a lot more.  When I take him to school he walks all over the play area, and around the wide halls, with a determined joy.  It’s wonderful to watch.  However, at home he has been very limited in his ability to move on his own.  He has basically been able to walk up and down the hall, in a straight line, and needed us to help guide him around the furniture and to his desired location.  We decided there had to be a change.

Today I pushed our couches up against the walls, the dining table went into the corner, and the love-seat went under the bar.  There is now a huge open area in our great room, big enough for Christian to get a ton of practice walking.  At least, that was the idea.  After picking Christian up from school, I helped him navigate his walker over our gravel driveway and into the house.  Once inside he walked freely from the door, into the living room, then to the kitchen, and after a few nudges, into the dining room and back to the living room.  He cruised.

This is a big deal for us.  If Christian can move around our home by himself it will change our lives.  We are still a long ways off from that, but this is a start.  Watching him walk around without having to immediately jump up to keep him from crashing into the table, or the couch, or the rocking chair, was amazing.  The look on his face was nothing but beautiful.