After over two years of crawling and physical therapy, Kyle Baker recently took his first tottering steps in his living room. The rest of the family felt extremely underwhelmed.
“I thought it would be more polished,” said Janet Baker, Kyle’s mom. “I had my phone in my hand and I almost took a video, but I ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it.”
Kyle, who has spastic cerebral palsy, pulled himself up using the couch — a lazy move. His gait is mediocre by any medical definition and not something that should have taken over 24 months to develop. Kyle took over a year to even crawl. After four or five steps, Kyle fell to his side rather than stopping upright. This is an embarrassing mistake that any baby should be ashamed of.
David Baker, Kyle’s father, turned to watch for a couple of seconds and then went back to watching the football game.
Kyle lay on his side for a couple of minutes, waiting for his family to come congratulate him or help him up. When nobody came, he clumsily rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled away.
After the unimpressive episode, Kyle’s four-year-old sister, Sarah, reminded her parents that she walked farther at only nine months.
This is great, Nate.