Didn't start the fire

(Less and less of a) Baby J took off running yesterday. Well, not quite, but he moved from no more than three steps in a mostly lunging row to calmly walking around 10 or 15 steps at a time. We had some friends over to work on a project and their 2 1/2 year old girl was walking all over the place, and I swear J just realized how efficient it was to move like that and followed the leader. He's still using what the husband calls the "homeopathic finger" to hold on to furniture if he's near it but feels no compunctions about letting go and moving upright on his own if the furniture doesn't cooperate with his directional impulses.

And, because he is clearly my child, he did all this without any prompting. In fact, when asked to walk to me, he'll just jump into my lap instead or fall on the floor in a heap waiting to be picked up. His first totally solo walk happened yesterday while I was sitting at the table working with my friend. I happened to look up and saw him toddling off on his own behind her, looking for all the world as if he had been walking all the time when no one was looking. Later, while I was fixing dinner, he walked the length of the kitchen holding onto cabinets and the fridge, then turned the corner into the living room. When I peeked after him, he had left all walking aids at the doorway and was calmly out on his own in the no man's land in front of our laundry room. Of course, as soon as he noticed me watching, he collapsed in giggles. Hmm, suspicious, very suspicious!