"If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are..."

Funsize took her first steps about six weeks ago, but then basically took no more for several weeks. Then there was some time where she might just about take a step... but more often would drop down onto all fours to crawl about. Last week, however, she took a longer walk, and then over the last week she's gone from just a few steps to basically being a toddler now.

The thing is, walking is actually a difficult thing - you need to coordinate your balance (on one foot no less), move a whole lot of muscles in combination, and in ways they haven't moved before, then re-settle yourself, and then do it again. More than that, it's something that people do without thinking, which means that it's almost impossible to explain how to do it... and anyway, you're explaining to a child without the necessary referents to understand it.

In other words, it's something that every child basically has to learn for herself, with plenty of demonstrations but no real instruction.

It is, therefore, necessarily a slow and difficult process, starting with a couple of staggered steps, then a few more, and then ever-increasing confidence.

Just like everything else.

It's not really some profound revelation, but it's something that bears almost constant repetition, and it's something that is very graphically demonstrated by a child learning to walk: learning a new skill is hard, and unless you're some sort of genius or savant you will such at it at first. But keep at it, and the second step will be a bit easier than the first... and then the next, and so on. Stick at it, and eventually you'll get to the point where it just comes naturally.