We have...walking!

For the past eight or nine days, Young Master Andrew has been taking his first few steps.

That's right. We have walking! At last! At long last!

But, of course, it's really just preliminary walking. It's that adorable staggering that all toddlers do when they're still trying to get their sea legs. Sometimes he takes as many as four or five steps before pitching forward into your arms, while other times, he just takes one and then sinks slowly to his knees.

It's always adorable, though.

Andrew's a smart guy. He knows that if he really needs to get somewhere, crawling is still his best bet. So I can't take him places and set him down on his feet and expect him to stay like that. He's still much more likely to drop to all fours and make a break for it that way.

On Sunday, I gamely tried to drop him off in the nursery room at church that's designated for the walkers. Andrew's not a big fan of the little baby nursery, and he knows when that's where we're headed. He always, always starts to cry as we resolutely make our way down the hallway. David's theory is that he's too mature for that room and all the little baby toys. He's used to playing with William's toys, after all. There's no Batcave in the Lamb Room.

But the nursery ladies looked doubtful.

"But he's been taking all these steps!" I protested.

They looked unconvinced.

"I just think he might be happier in here now," I tried again. "He really is walking some now."

More doubt.

I decided to play my ace.

"And you all know who is big brother is and what he's like," I added. "If he can handle William, I think he'll be okay in here."

It worked. They let me put Andrew down by the train table, and I escaped.

Of course, when I returned to pick him up, he was back in the baby room again. One of the ladies told me that he got upset when one of the other kids started to shriek and cry, so they brought him back into the other room. I guess I could understand that.

So we'll be working extra hard on walking so Andrew can get promoted up to the nursery with the cooler toys at church. And I would be lying if I didn't also admit that I won't miss all the stains on the knees of all his clothes from crawling.

But we're getting there. He's already much steadier on his feet than he was even a few days ago. It's happening.