Little Steps

“Ready, Ida? One, two, three!” Louk and I grabbed each of fourteen-month-old Ida’s hands and lifted her off the ground, onto her feet. Ida stuck her right foot out but fell right away.

“Ow! Mama!” Ida rubbed her bottom, and Louk and I laughed. I crouched down and picked her up, putting her on my hip.

“We’ve been trying for an hour already. Let’s just try again tomorrow.” Louk rubbed his back from bending down so much, and I nodded in agreement. We plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. I moved Ida to my lap, facing me.

“Do you want to walk, Ida?” I tickled her stomach, and she laughed.

“Yes, Mama. Food now?” Louk leaned over, took Ida from me, and walked into the kitchen with her. My body immediately relaxed, sinking into the couch. I grabbed the remote and switched the channel to my soap operas when I was so perfectly interrupted.

“Mama? Mama! MAMA!” I got up and rushed to the kitchen. Ida was sitting at the table with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich setting in front of her.

“Hey, no need to yell, munchkin. What’s wrong?” Louk shot me an annoyed glance, and I sighed.

“You can go golfing. I don’t care. I have this under control.” His face immediately lit up. He gave me a hug, a kiss on the head for Ida, and ran out the front door. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Ida.

“Now, what did you need, sweetie?” Ida poked her sandwich.

“Yucky. Yucky, yucky, yucky.” I laughed as Ida crossed her arms and shook her head. Separating the two pieces of bread, I realized the problem. Ida was a picky eater, and one thing that she wouldn’t eat was peanuts, even though she liked peanut butter. And mixed in with the peanut butter was small, chopped up peanuts.

“Ida, I’m sure Daddy didn’t mean to put peanuts on your sandwich. So, how about we have some fruit instead? Mama will eat your sandwich.” I picked up her plate and sat it down on the counter.

“Okay, Mama.”

---

“Amy. You have to get up. You slept through your alarm! Wake up!” I shook my wife, who was still sleeping in bed even though she should have been almost ready to walk out the door. “Amy! Wake. UP. It’s Monday. You’re late for work!” Amy jolted awake, and I raised my eyebrows.

“You seriously have to go, Amy. It’s already 8:00.” The moment she heard those words come out of my mouth, Amy jumped up from the bed and ran out the door. I could listen to her scolding herself under her breath. I silently thanked her for not yelling, as Ida was still sleeping.

After making sure that Amy was starting to get ready, I tip-toed into Ida’s room. She was sleeping peacefully, her stomach rising and falling. I put my hands on the edge of her crib and looked down at her. My little Ida was beautiful. Her eyelids fluttered open, and in a matter of minutes, she was wide awake and squirming all over.

“Daddy!” The smile taking over Ida’s face was contagious, and soon I was smiling as well. I reached down and picked her up. She reached out and attempted to pull my glasses off of my face, but I swatted her hand away and fixed them. 

“Hey, do you want to surprise Mama today?” Ida shrugged, and I knew that she would be on board. She was still a baby, after all.

---

I sighed as I clicked on my email and looked at my full inbox—about fifty emails, all from residents of the apartment building that I managed. Clicking on the first one, I moaned. The email was about the length of a book, and it was from one of the regular complainers-Margie Lonkfur. I had just finished reading it and was about to respond when my phone rang. Assuming that it was another complainer, I picked it up with an eye roll already forming. But when I answered, I was surprised to hear their voice.

“Amy! You need to get home as soon as possible. Something is happening with Ida. Hurry!” Louk’s worried voice made me panic, so I grabbed my purse and car keys and walked out of my office.

“I am on my way now, Louk. Be there in a couple of minutes.” With that, I hung up the phone and ran out into the parking lot and got into my car. I put the key into the ignition and started my car up. Going way over the speed limit, I started the five-minute drive home.

---

Ida looked up at me with another face-covering smile. My plan had worked perfectly. I had worked with Ida all morning, and I pulled off my worried voice on my phone call to Amy. Now Amy was on her way to get back home to see what was going on with Ida.

“Daddy, where Mama?” I laughed and picked Ida up, setting her down on my lap.

“Mama will be here in just a couple of minutes. For now, do you want to watch Pup Watch?” Ida flailed her arms happily, so I grabbed the remote and switched it to the cartoon channel.

---

Just seconds after I parked in the driveway, I was in the living room, surprised by what I was seeing. Louk was on the couch with Ida on his lap. Pup Watch was playing on the TV, and I wondered what the problem was.

“Louk! Why did you call me so frantic-sounding? You had me panicked. It doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong.” Louk looked up at me like he had just noticed I was there with a questioning look on his face.

“I never said that something was wrong; I just said that there was something happening with Ida. Do you want to show Mama what you can do now, Ida?” Ida nodded vigorously, and Louk smiled. I watched as Louk got up with Ida and stood with her hands in his on the area rug.

“Ready, Ida? 1. 2. 3!” Ida’s little leg kicked out in front of her, and it landed! Her left foot went next, and she had taken four steps before she fell. My heart swelled in excitement, and tears unwillingly rolled out of my eyes. But I had every right to cry; it was my baby’s first steps! After months and months of trying, my baby was finally walking.

“Oh, Ida! You did a great job! Thank you so much, Louk.” I kissed Louk on the cheek and picked up Ida.

“Hey, that’s what good dads do.” We all laughed before Ida squirmed away from me. Soon she was on the ground again and playing with her toys.