Waiting to capture their child's milestone is a parent's dream and that is what this couple did... months before it was expected.
Being a first-time mom can be a bit daunting. "Am I doing this right?", "Is she hungry?", "Is he sleepy?" Despite the numerous questions, it's a time when both mother and child get to grow together. Only in Freya Minter's case, it seemed she was growing up much faster than her mum. And it had to do with something that left her mum utterly gob-smacked. The child began walking at just six months old. The Daily Mail brings her achievement to you.
Couple Grace and Ryan Minter, both 29-years-old and from Essex were left in complete shock when their daughter Freya Minter, currently seven months old, took her first steps - without any help. Despite looking barely old enough to even crawl, Freya was ready to take on the world on her terms beginning March 25th, 2019. Now, her mum spends quite a bit of time running after her tiny tot who definitely proves that sometimes you can run before you can walk.
Considering the average age for children to begin walking is anywhere between 10 months to a year old, according to NHS, Freya has certainly caused a spike in that learning curve. In fact, she is thought to be one of the youngest babies to be able to achieve this milestone.
"Freya was able to stand up whilst holding on to our fingers for balance, by the time she was four-months-old," explained Grace, a teacher. "We could tell she was desperate to walk from then but it wasn't until she was six-months-old that it actually happened."
As for the actual moment the little girl took put one foot in front of the other, Grace mentioned that her [Freya] face was "priceless".
"She had the cheekiest grin, Ryan and I couldn't believe it," the mum said with pride. "At first, I thought it was a fluke, but then when she continued to walk a few steps here and there, I was amazed."
Continuing, she said, "Freya has completely skipped crawling and has walked straight away, but she hasn't quite mastered how to get around things yet, she tries to go over them." Clearly, the young one is a pleasant handful as the parents admit, “We need eyes at the back of our heads now as she is so quick and always wants to be involved."
It looks like Freya is also a very quick learner as Grace says, “We brought her a walker but her feet don’t even touch the ground, so we didn’t attempt to use it again, so she has learnt all by herself."
As for what brought on this incredible development, the mum has a theory. She says, "Freya has never had seated walkers as I read this may delay a baby’s learning as they get used to the support from the seat, so this might be why she is walking already."
But Freya's first-step milestone doesn't seem so far-fetched as Grace explains that she's always been a pretty active baby. She says, “She has always been an active baby and super strong considering she is only 13 pounds, at four and a half months old, she was able to sit up on her own. She is a very determined little lady, at ten weeks old she rolled from her cot into my bed so we should have seen this coming."
“It was only when I spoke to friends and brought her to baby groups, I realised that she is so advanced. We are all so proud of her, my family and friends can’t believe it, and neither can we. People have been amazed by her walking at playgroup and they love how her face is either one of sheer determination or a great big smile."
The proud parents know that there's a lot more to come. Grace says, “Who knows what she’ll do next, Freya is now seven months and we have no doubt that she’ll continue to keep smashing her milestones. She is our first child so we don’t know any different but we’re so proud of her.”
Watch the video of the adorable babe here:
References:
https://www.unilad.co.uk/life/first-time-mum-shocked-as-six-month-old-baby-starts-walking/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/first-time-mum-gobsmacked-six-14690828
https://www.nhs.uk/tools/documents/timelines_js/index.mob.html?project=birth_to_five