Sammy is walking! (And he's sooo cute!)

Sammy rolled/crawled/stood/climbed stairs early. Based on my preliminary data, it seemed probable that he would also walk early.

Instead, he hit a very comfortable plateau and cruised there -- literally. He cruised, and cruised, and cruised...

Bravely Cruising around Mount Mama.

(The rocky terrain made a sea voyage difficult.
No wonder it lasted five months.)

I developed a theory. I think he knows that once he starts walking, he will be classed as a "toddler," and not a "baby," after which the spontaneous adoration may fade.

And he's addicted to adulation. Any trip (especially to the grocery store) which doesn't yield at least one new convert? Total loss in his ledger. His slogan is "My dimple can fell victims at thirty paces," and it's true. (Almost all his victims are female, by the way. He's such a ladies' man.)

For the last month or two, he has been toddling two steps back and forth between the sofa and the hot chocolate table. Those are stationary objects, though, and in-house motion requires crawling. For distances, a mobile throne (ie stroller or shopping cart) suffices. His favorite mode of transport, naturally, involves the litter-bearing shoulders of worshiping grandmas.

Sammy graciously accepts tributes
from doting grandpas, as well.
As with a shiny new helicopter!
Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma Berry!
December 17, 2010.

I fear his cousin Patrick (who "skates through life entirely on charm") may soon have a rival.

I know, as his mama, that it's my duty to step in and protect him from the spotlight. How many child stars end up miserable? For that matter, how many adults can't handle fame and become highly self-destructive? A better question might be "how many movie stars actually maintain a single, healthy marriage?" I agree with John Rosemond's wise counsel about "attention is an addictive drug" and "spoiled children do not become happy adults."

Praising a child for being cute/handsome/beautiful leads to shallow character, and vanity. I know this. And yet, along with every female who has ever crossed his path, I just smile helplessly and say "But he's soooooo cute!"

(Well, okay, two-year-old girls tend to say, simply "Baby!" And the lady at Danny's school who picked him up in the office and started chattering at him was speaking Spanish. I'm pretty sure the content translated to "Oh, what a cute baby! What a handsome boy!" though.)


...Wait, how did we get from "Sammy is walking" into a long digression about his amazing charm?

You see? You see the awesome mind control powers he has? I will post pictures as evidence, but I add that no picture or video clip has ever adequately captured his cuteness. As with most charismatic figures, one must experience his coyly flashed dimple, must bask in his powerful magnetism, in person.

Go ahead and buy your plane tickets. I'll wait.

At the airport with Grandpa Homer.
His shirt reads "Future Rockets Scientist."
December 20, 2010

Tae Kwon Do Baby. His brothers say
his most fearsome move is
"slobber-hand strike."
December 9, 2010

Well, with mixed emotions, I report that yesterday, on multiple occasions, he left an anchored position (like the couch) for an only semi-stationary target. (Me.) He toddled at least four steps (twice), then flashed a triumphant grin, which included a gratuitous dimple as a side-benefit. (Awww.)

He has taken his first steps toward real independence. Now I get to make a new prediction: the terrible twos will be horrible. When Sammy is eighteen months old, he will suddenly acquire a little brother or sister. Assuming this one is at least as cute as all my other babies -- I hasten to add that Eric and Danny were handsome and charming babies, too, just as physically cute, in my opinion, though they didn't get as much attention from strangers, possibly an eye contact issue -- U will probably begin stealing limelight at once. Addiction withdrawal, combined with all the other frustrations of toddlerhood...well, it likely won't be pretty.

But why worry about the heavy-interest emotional debt? Right now, Sammy is practicing walking to me, and each time he succeeds, I get a fix from his precious smile.

Medieval Prince, coyly singing "Greensleeves."
April 3, 2011

Addendum: Tonight during Family Home Evening, I had Eric hold my smartphone while Sammy toddled back and forth between Jon, me, and a chair. I didn't want to list it publically on youtube, but if you email me, I can send you a link to it.