A small step for Bluet

Today we returned from our brief sojourn in Charleston, South Carolina, the heart of the American South, where they fought for States Rights* in the War of Northern Aggression**. More Photos of that to follow - stay tuned, there are some good ones. Anyway, today we flew back, and returned to a sun-kissed New York City. Emily had some work to do, and Bluet wouldn't sleep, so she and I headed to Central Park. A few days had made Bluet's heart grow fonder, and she happily kicked her legs as we entered the park and headed over to the swings. Once she saw the swings, she squealed excitedly, and as she swung, she clapped her hands.

With more time to kill, we moved on to 1) crawling around in the dirt and 2) holding my hands and walking around. Here is the former activity.

As the sun and shadows of the park were so pretty, I decided to try and take some pictures. Bluet obligingly crawled.....

And over the last couple of days she has started to be able to stand up by herself, and stay steadily erect for several seconds at a time. As I sat back and watched, she found an appropriate balancing stick (pictured), and stood. I was fast enough to capture this with my camera, as you can see. 

And then as I watched...she walked! Just 3 or 4 steps, and it may have been "not falling over" rather than walking per se, but still, it was very exciting. I was very proud and gave her a big hug, once she had sat back down on the ground. She was unphased by this momentous event.

So I guess she is a toddler now; she certainly toddles.

Then it was back to crawling and walking with assistance. We walked back to the swings where the pram was parked, and Bluet made friends with a big shaggy black dog, who gave Bluet a kiss. Kind of. The owner of the dog had a young son called Bradford. I can only assume that anyone who names their kid "Bradford" has never been to Bradford.

Then we went home.

* Slavery ** The American Civil War