Conor is apparently right on time, according to developmental stages when kids learn to stand. from six to 9 months, says Wondertime.go.com. According to Parenting.com, "It takes most babies about 1,000 hours of practice from the time they pull themselves upright to the time they can walk alone." So when I do the math, if Conor started practicing right now, 24 hours a day without sleeping, he will be walking in 40 days. But since child labor laws prevent such treatment, it'll still be sometime before Conor can walk. Whew!
To help a child prepare to walk, you can do the following;
1. Let the rascal walk in front of you while you hold his hands
2. Hold only one hand so he learns to feel what balancing is
3. when he can stand on his own, step away and call his name so he'll take a few steps on his own.
4. Arrange sturdy furniture that he can hold on to as he walks so he can do so without your help.

Tags: infants, children, developmental stages, milestones, walking, 1000 hours

Conor and I spent the long weekend together as my wife had a weekend conference. We packed a lot into one weekend as he never let me rest the whole 72 hours and his attention span only lasts about 15 minutes. Here's a clever list of all we accomplished; 1. Cleaned out three boxes of junk so his baby toys could go where my big boy toys used to go. 2. Wrote a song together when he started pouting and I was tired of the old songs I usually sing. 3. Tried solid food and after he spit up the apple sauce we went back to drinking from a bottle. (My bottle looked different than his.) 4. Cleaned out his entire dresser, all because I couldn't find a bib and knew the solid food wasn't going to be pretty. 5. Watched Sponge Bob Squarepants for the first time. (A first for both of us.) 6. Spent an inordinate amount of time helping Conor practice standing up and keeping his balance. (i I figured out he's too busy balancing to cry in this position.) 7. Drove to Newburyport, NH and Kittery Maine for no good reason. Oh, except that he sleeps in the car and therefore doesn't cry. 8. Did tons of laundry, folded it and put it back in its place while he watched on grabbing the laundry and putting it in his mouth before I folded it. 9. Played the guitar while he watched, kicked, waved his arms and smiled. (I wish I had audiences like him back when I was a recording artist.) 10. Did some green screen filming with Conor for an upcoming music video called, "I Can't Go Nowhere Man." 11. Cleaned up the house before mommy came home and realized we were having lots of fun. Keeping a 5-month old happy isn't easy. But at the same time, it ain't that hard, either. What a great time we had.