release

We’re in New York, visiting Dineen’s parents for Christmas. Her father has just finished making us breakfast, her mother is at work, and Dineen is upstairs taking a shower. Alex is playing with a Fisher-Price bus, running over plastic pedestrians at criminally negligent speeds.

Nate, as he has done many times, grabbed my hand and pulled himself to standing in the kitchen. Then he let go, and stood unassisted for about ten seconds. Still not breaking new territory.

Then, he took a step, unaided. And another. And then fell crashing to the ground.

But it’s two steps, by himself, and he seems eager to try more. Seeing Nate’s first steps was a better Christmas gift than anything that comes in a box.