Walking Baby Robot

I've finally gotten his walking down on video. I've got 2 clips actually, both taken on different days and in different places, but he's thrilled in both!

The second video was just taken over the weekend.
I've noticed he's beginning to exert his preferences and his will more strongly now, as if his newfound mobility has made him realise he can choose where he wants to go and what he wants to play with. And choose he will. Once he has set his eyes (and mind too, it seems) on a particular toy, he will scream if anyone tries to pull him away from it. Vader and I are usually easy going about allowing him to explore, but we draw the line at objects we deem dangerous or when he is obviously sleepy but keeps trying to get up to play. The only way to prevent the tantrums is to distract him tactfully and briskly. Too slow and he gets wind of our true motivations and shrieks even louder than if we had just pulled him away without any attempt to distract him.

Despite the obvious inconveniences of now having to deal with a more assertive child and having to run around more now that he is a whole lot more mobile, I find myself strangely pleased. Not just proud of his achievements, but more so, I am relieved that he is beginning to possess some level of independence. Not relieved because I want to be rid of the need to be constantly watching over him the entire day. Contrary to that, I actually love spending entire days with him on the weekends because I am unable to on weekdays. Not that sort of relief, no.

I am relieved because now he can begin to communicate through gestures, a variety of sounds and through his walking, where he wants to go, what he wants to play with, what he is irritated by (by very deftly swiping away our hands, turning away and raising his voice all at once!) and what he loves. As a tiny baby, there was so little he could do to tell us what he didn't like, he could only cry. If there was an itch somewhere on his tiny body, we wouldn't know. Even if we knew it was an itch, we wouldn't know exactly where. He can now scratch the itch himself. He can differentiate between the type of food he likes and those he dislikes, and he can clearly indicate this! He can choose to explore the things around him and he can choose to come back to us for a hug because he knows we're always watching and never more than an arm's length away. He doesn't need to wait for us to find out what he needs, because sometimes it can take an eternity :) It's as if, he now has free will and is beginning to recognise it. This naturally comes with its own set of complications and risks, but I feel he is better off this way. He is becoming his own person, a distinct individual.

Maybe it's because this strikes a chord within me. Why we were created and given free will, even though it risks the possibilty of us self-destructing, and dragging along the entire human population while we're at it. We are given the gift of experiencing life in all its abundance and for that I am thankful. Funny how I this concept never sunk in until baby Elephant came along. Not funny, considering the fool that I am haha :)