Finally...

He is WALKING!!!

It was brought to my attention today that I have not mentioned this here yet & that one of Luke's aunts was unaware of the fact that Luke has been walking for a whole week now!
In my defense, he has been doing the whole "I can take 5-6 steps from Dad to Mom" for awhile now & all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. have seen him do this, however, to walk any further than that still required at least the tip of his finger to be touching something-my hand, the wall, or even just a little bit of material from my clothing-it didn't matter as long as he was touching it. He has also been quite proficient with all of his push toys for several months now too. He can even run while pushing these & likes to perform several "ice skating routines" as I have termed them. Passing the toy from one hand to the other in midstride or just twirling it out to his side while still walking & turning-NO problem!
Last weekend, though, he finally let go. His uncle was home for the weekend & we went over to Scott's mom & dad's that Friday night to visit. His uncle wanted to know if Luke could walk yet & then decided to see if Luke could do it. Luke walked from him to me & of course we all cheered like usual, & after several repeated episodes-Luke decided that walking wasn't too bad. He walked across the room to another family member & just before he got there-he made a U-turn & headed back my direction, but ended up falling down after a step or two. (We decided that if he could make a U-turn, then he most likely has been ready for quite a while, but just needed that little bit of confidence!) We continued practicing with him that night & at one point he scooted over to the toy box, pulled himself up & walked right over to where I was sitting when NOBODY was watching! I counted this as his "first voluntary steps" if there is such a milestone because it was his decision-not us trying to make him do it! He got to practice more the next day at my mom & dad's & then again that Sunday at his Great Grandma's birthday party too.
All week he has been practicing & I guess that I just assumed that word had spread after Friday night's accomplishments, but I was wrong. I found out this weekend that people had assumed it was just more of the same old same old on Luke's part. So, Mary, sorry that we didn't call you! I hope the story helps you to feel like you were there! :) Maybe for the next big milestone, we'll shout it from the rooftops so that everyone will know right away, but don't count on it-I tend to be a bit forgetful sometimes! :)