Baby Steps

Helping Brennan learn how to walk has taken a combination of different methods, each a baby step toward the end goal. He started army crawling when he was 1 1/2 years old. It was over a year later when he first crawled on hands and knees. He's been getting physical therapy one hour per week since he was a month old. In addition to that, he did swim therapy for a couple of months. Swim therapy was great for him and really helped him learn to bear weight on his feet. Then he did a few sessions on a treadmill which helped him learn how to move his feet in a walking pattern.

Once he understood how to move his feet, he was ready for a walker (which his early intervention center graciously loaned us so he could practice at home).

He has loved this new sense of independence. He also loves how quickly he can get from one place to another!

A friend suggested taking Brennan to the mall to walk which has been so great for him. He loves the social aspect of saying "hi" and "bye" and waving to everyone he sees. And he'll walk, and walk, and walk until his hands hurt from holding the handles on his walker.

About two weeks ago, Brennan took a few step independently for the first time. It may still be a while until he's really walking on his own, but he's making great progress and we're SO proud of him.