Elio starts pulling himself up to stand. Let's be real for a minute: he spent a whole lot of time doing absolutely nothing. He needed Alpha and Satan for everything, so it was pretty damn normal for his parents took delight in even the tiniest accomplishment. Holding his head up on his own, rolling over, smiling; all worth of celebration. However, among the most exciting and memorable of milestones was baby's first steps. It's easy to see that it's often one small step for baby, one giant leap for parentkind.
Their son actually took his first steps the day he turned 8 months old. Honestly, it was almost creepy to see a child that little walking.
But it was so cool. He had been trying to walk for a month and had taken the odd step here and there. To see him do it and to see his face while he did it was pretty amazing. Satan went away for five days and when he got home, Elio walked across the room to get to him. Best welcome home gift. He loved the sight of this bald, toothless creature finding his sea legs and laughing at himself with that gummy smile. His son just giggled, fell down, giggled some more and got back up.
Alpha cried; he was so relieved. After that Elio never fell and never stopped walking. It was joyous and terrifying at the same time. He looked like an overripe peach...but at least he was pleased with himself.
It was also a sheer amazement, pride and terror all in one. They were so excited to be able to see it. Elio walked back and forth between them and was just as excited as they were.
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They put Elio in front of a mirror, and apparently walking toward himself was just the motivation he needed, because he walked up to his reflection and gave himself a huge smooch. To this day, they are so grateful for every single step he took, even when he made a huge mess or stormed away from them in a 5-year-old huff. They will never forget the moment when their son took his first steps. They had been practicing letting him stand on his own. They would lift him up, help him gain his balance and then would encourage him to walk. Up until that day he would sometimes sway and eventually fall down, but on this very special evening he excitedly took those wobbly steps toward them. They looked at each other in shock and disbelief and then they all hugged as their eyes filled with tears of joy. They were overflowing with pride and they were so grateful to experience it together as a family. It was one of their happiest memories.
From the first smiles, gurgles, and coos to learning to say "dada," Elio loved to communicate with his own form of baby talk.
Satan smiled, talked, sang, and read to his baby. He was patient as he tried to decode his infant's baby talk and nonverbal communication, like facial expressions, gurgling, or babbling sounds. He made time to give his baby lots of loving attention, so he could "speak" to him with his baby talk, even when he was busy with other tasks.
Long before Elio could speak clearly, he understood the general meaning of what Alpha was saying not only to him but to Satan too. He also absorbed his emotional tone. He had back-and-forth conversations in baby talk. He imitated his "ba-ba" or "goo-goo" vocalizations.
They smiled often at their baby, especially when he was cooing, or gurgling. They looked at their baby as he babbled and laughed, rather than looking away, interrupting, or talking with one another. They did their best to respond, even when they didn’t understand what their baby was trying to say.