crawling, climbing, walking

So, Kaspar turned one and he's still not walking. He's been very close to taking his first steps, but he always bails on it the very last second. He is such a good and fast crawler, that walking simply does not seem to be a priority. However, he can stand up, in the middle of the room (without holding on to anything) and just stand there looking at a toy in his hands for quite some time. Today he stood up on his own and began to move to the music that was playing, sort of dancing without moving his feet. That was quite a sight! When he stands still, he seems so stable and so sure of himself, it's almost unbelievable, that he's about to get back down on all fours to advance ahead. A while ago, my mother and I were sort of placing bets ... She was convinced that he'd walk by the time we returned from our trip to Latvia. I was sort of aiming for twelve months. We both lost! And all Steve wanted was to be at home, when Kaspar takes his first steps, but I have a feeling he might not get his wish granted, either. He's leaving for another three week tour tonight. I highly doubt that Kaspar will start walking tonight, even though Steve has been trying his darn best to convince him, he should. But Kaspar is not only a crawler, but also an absolute acrobat on the stairs! He knows how not only to climb up, but also how to come down the stairs feet first. When there is nothing better to do indoors, or when the clock strikes 8pm and he's not even mildly interested in sleeping, we take on the stairs. Climbing the whole way up or coming down is one of those things that makes him so very proud and happy. Three or four climbs can also exhaust him enough, so that I can get him into bed! If I did not get bored assisting him, he would be willing to spend hours climbing up and down and up again until he'd probably just fall asleep right on the stairs. No, I'm not joking. I've heard of stories like that! In fact, Steve has been known to have fallen asleep in the hallway as a baby!