Stair Masters

Our apartment has three carpeted stairs from the hallway into the living area. The stairs are slightly steep, but they're nice and wide and the carpeting makes them perfect for learning to climb stairs. So we took down the "gate" (a bouncy chair on its side surrounded by about 30 pillows) at the bottom of the stairs and installed a legitimate gate in the hallway, opening the three stairs to Lola and Locke to learn the art of climbing. But the stairs have become the stage for more than just climbing lessons.

Kelly and I had unblocked the stairs before, from time to time, so Locke and Lola could crawl up to their baths in the evenings. We loved to watch their slow, simultaneous crawl attack. It's the same one they employ when Kelly sits on the floor with a plate of food. We call it the baby zombies because they're very focused and they crawl silently toward their goal like zombies stumbling toward their prey -- even though their speed makes it surprisingly easy for the prey to get away every time. But somehow, the movie zombies manage to succeed from time to time. It's easier to understand when two adorable babies are coming toward you but, if it were real zombies, I wouldn't just stand there screaming. I'd run! But, I digress.

The first day we opened up the stairs for them, I sat on the bottom stair and the babies scrambled past each other and me to get to the top. Going up was never the problem. It's coming down that's hard. Locke had the requisite amount of fear when contemplating his descent. He instinctively turned sideways, tentatively sticking his toes out and down, searching for the next lower stair. When his shaky little foot found it, he turned backwards, and brought his other foot down, lowering himself to the stair. It was amazing to watch. I could tell I wouldn't have to worry too much about Locke after a few days of learning.

Lola, on the other hand, seemed to lack any sort of fear of the stairs. She'd make her way to the top, turn around, and fling herself head-first toward me on the bottom stair, giggling as I caught her. This was going to take some time.

After several days of me turning her around to show her how to descend backwards, and her getting frustrated and refusing to come down at all, she's begun to show progress. She now turns herself around to come down, only she does it a full yard or so from the top stair so she has to inch backwards for quite a while before finding the edge. But that's OK. She's being careful. I like that.

During our days on the stairs, several other small breakthroughs have happened. Locke has learned to share. Oh, not with his sister just yet, but he'll give Mommy his toys and other random objects. I'll enjoy them for a moment, thanking Locke, and then hand them back usually. His face really lights up. It's just another little growing phase that makes a mom proud.

And Lola's walking has progressed. She can take more steps and pause in between them. It won't be much longer until she's on two feet exclusively. Now, if she'll just stop trying to walk down the stairs.