Stella's walking!

She finally tried to walk on her own! She has been walking along things for quite a while now but she hasn't really been interested in trying to walk on her own. The other day she took 2 steps. Then earlier today I caught her walking with no hands back and forth from one end of the crib to the other. I was watching her on the video monitor go down for a nap. She's in there practicing on the soft mattress! Haha! So a little bit ago I had her Elmo phone in my hand and she let go of the coffee table and walked about 3 steps to me! It shouldn't be to long now! People have told me to not encourage it but on the other hand I don't want to discourage her either. I have heard of someone trying to slow them down from walking and I don't think you should try to hinder your child from reaching a milestone just for your own reasons. Sooooo, I've just been letting her take the lead. She just has been walking holding on to things for so long I had thought she would try long before so I am glad she is becoming interested in "taking the next step"!!! Yay for Stella!