we can’t really chastize grandpa and grandma snowdeal too much for giving odin a belated birthday gift since we knew that when we arrived in grand rapids we’d have our very own gift waiting for him. amusingly we had no idea that we both decided to get him some radio flyer gear. but it’s all good because the two gifts are different enough that i’m sure he’ll enjoy them both.

grandpa and grandma got him a “traditional” pull wagon while we got him a walker wagon which lets crawling, climbing infants
while we did get his birthday patch practice their walking skills by pushing the cart around the house.

at first, after i finally finished stumbling through the “some assembly required” directions, odin wasn’t sure what to make of his new toy, preferring instead to practice standing against a nearby chair.

after a bit of prompting, odin finally figured out that unlike many things in the house – i.e. potted plants and stairs – we were actually encouraging him to crawl up and investigate this new object.

it seemed to capture his interest, with the cool metal and soft curves of the wood, but he didn’t immediately discern that he could push it and walk!

a few moments later, and he was quite impressed to see that the new thing also contained some of his favorite toys, including the crinkly orange book and his measuring tape.

what fun!

eventually, odin slowly figures out that not only does this new thing that mamma and pops seem so fascinated in hold his favorite toys, but he can also push it forward while moving his legs!

after a few hesitant attempts to push it forward, he quickly got the hang of it and is now pushing the cart around the house, smiling and laughing, quite obviously impressed with his newfound ability to walk without any human adult intervention.

of course, we’re very proud and are sure that it won’t be long before he won’t even need to use the walker to get where he needs to go on his own two feet.