Walking With Gabriel

Rob (from Ireland) has spent this summer volunteering here at New Day Foster Home and has written a guest post about the joys of watching (and helping) Gabriel learn to walk.

Being at New Day for nearly three months gives me the chance to see lots of kids made big strides in their development.  Sometimes in the day to day it is hard to see how far they are coming, but when you look back over a longer time you can see how fast the kids are growing up!  I've seen this so clearly with Gabriel.  When I first got to New Day, Gabriel was just starting to practice walking.  He would attempt to take a few steps when holding tightly onto both of your hands.  He was always so cute and so proud of every step he made! 

Next he tried walking between two people, still holding our hands.  The grass in the backyard made the perfect place to practice with a safe landing mat just in case he lost his balance!

The next step was to try walking holding on to one hand and walking.  His balance improved bit by bit as did his confidence.  Gabriel loved the extra freedom being able to walk gave him. Though he still needed someone to be there to help him. 

Lastly, he began to take steps independently!  It started with one step and then he would lose his balance.  Bit by bit he got stronger and each day he could take one more step.  Right now he can walk a few steps between people or objects without help.  He loves the freedom it brings him not needing to be carried all the time when he wants something, and he can see it is faster than crawling! 

Next step for Gabriel is walking further and faster as his balance improves.  While I am sure he is ready to have that freedom, we aren't sure if we are quite ready to be running after him! 

Thank you Rob, for serving here this summer, and for walking with Gabriel.