Those first tiny steps

It was the afternoon of May 12th.Murali was at work and me and Ananya were at a friend's place.Something excited me then. Ananya was standing for an unusually long time and I noticed her urge to take that first step but she kept standing and I knew she would take a couple of days to get her act together.But wooooh....suddenly, she moved her foot forward....and we all were clapping and cheering her.A step, and she sat down and continued to play.After some time, she got up again and took another step and sat down again.That was it for the day.Then started the fun.Each day, she has been making tremendous efforts to take that extra step every day. The process, a great milestone for her, has seen us experience a range of emotions, from smiling at her eagerness, priding in her steadfastness, reassured by her courage in the face of failure and the parental pleasure in seeing her want to grow up.From her wobbly one step, she has now grown to taking 7 to 8 steps at a time.If I am standing at the other end of the room, calling her, she scurries towards me, with tiny feet, never minding the couple of falls she has on the way, with the complete pleasure and pride on her face and jumps into my arms, waiting for the hug and kiss she gets at the end of each completed trip. And at the other end is waiting, a mother, with equal eagerness, greater pride, inexplicable happiness and tear filled eyes. A page in every mother's book.