When Madeline started experimenting with mobility - rolling over, crawling, pulling up and, finally, walking - I knew we couldn't let her out of our sight for a moment. Not only did we not know what she would get in to, but we weren't confident of her abilities to get around without injuring herself.
But Madeline's been walking for more than a month now, and we've been backing off a little. She's good enough at walking that she can maneuver around obstacles, she can steady herself when she gets caught on something, and she can navigate with ease the ledge in our front entryway. And after several months of trial and error, our home seems to be mostly childproofed.
These days we don't follow two steps behind when Madeline wanders into the next room. She often flits from place to place, playing with toys and other things she finds along the way. We're growing more comfortable in letting her roam alone.
This is a bit of independence that we welcome - the fact that she can entertain herself for a little while as we're preparing a meal or are otherwise occupied with household responsibilities. We're still never far away, and we check in when she's in another room, but it's nice not having to hover whenever she wants to walk around (which is pretty much all the time!).
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