Babe in arms

Last week I decided to stop carrying Anonybabe around everywhere.

I did so willingly until that point, picking her up whenever she would ask. She was slow to learn to walk; she was incredibly deliberate and cautious about everything she tried and walking was no exception. No step-taking until she was absolutely ready. I didn't push her to walk, I sat back and let her take things at her own pace, secretly worrying when toddlers several months younger than her were flying past at top speed.

So she didn't start walking until after 17 months. And even then she was unsure on her feet. And then it was winter in Chicago and there was snow everywhere and the snow freaked her out so that it ended up making more sense to carry her or put her in the stroller. It is only within the past month that she lost her fear of touching/walking in the snow. And it is only recently that the cold/snow abated on a regular basis.

So a couple of weeks ago, a month shy of Anonybabe's 2nd birthday, I finally decided I was going to stop picking up Anonybabe on demand. We went to the grocery store, which is several blocks away, and I carried her most of the way back, but when we got to the end of our block I put her down and told her I needed her to walk. "No, Mama, No!" she cried "No ho ho hoooo! Anonybabe walk, No!" I kept walking and urged her to follow me, and she started to wail. Long and loud, so that tears and snot and saliva joined stream and dropped in a long, clear, drip from her chin. A neighbor came out to see what was happening and gave me a penetrating stare.

"Are you giving mama a hard time?" she asked.

"I'm giving her one," I answered, "She's used to being carried everywhere and I'm making her walk." Meanwhile Anonybabe sobbed in the background and refused to move. Eventually after 5 minutes of sobbing and yelling, she shuffled a quarter of a block or so. It was too cold to stay outside for the hour it would take to get to our house at this rate, so I scooped her up and thanked her over and over again for trying to walk. I felt like a little bit of a jackass, but knew that I had reached the end of my rope when it came to carrying her around. She's heavy, and she's capable of walking. Ergo, she needs to walk.

I feel a little bad that Anonybabe was subjected to such a sudden switch, but she should probably get used to it since that seems to be my m.o.