The joy of a step

My little daughter Anna is 11.5 months old. Everyday at the moment I watch the evolution of her learning to balance on her two legs, strengthen up muscles and gain self-confidence.

It is a marvelous thing to watch develop. The evident pride and joy when she manages to accomplish a new stage is heart warming.

She hasn’t as yet taken those first unassisted steps but we are not far away. She can drag herself up and walk whilst holding on to furniture, parents or dog. And she can climb the entire staircase unassisted, which I find incredible. I would like to add that we are always 5 cm behind her, ready to catch her were it to go wrong.

Watching this daily struggle and the motivation to start walking has got me thinking. Most of us very much take walking for granted.

In fact we only really notice walking when we are hindered by an injury.

9 years ago almost to the day I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance with septicemia in my knee. One operation, five weeks in hospital and 13 weeks on crutches were the result.

I literally had to learn to walk again. It put a lot of my active lifestyle into perspective and gave me an immense new found gratitude.

The thoughts of walking dogs in Oslomarka lit up some of those darker moments when it seemed rehabilitation was not going as planned.

The following two years despite wearing a knee brace under my walking trousers and feeling discomfort with every left footstep (to put that in context it is feeling discomfort between 8,500 and 10,000 times daily), I was happy and grateful.

It is estimated that a baby will fall down in the region of 30 – 50,000 times before they are stable on two feet.

Enjoy those steps that little you once worked so hard to achieve.

Doggies: Wilma, Deano, Haraka, Lucy and Zoe