Turn 159 of 233

Inquire about any recommended activities. While I am talking with Dr. Parekh, Kimo takes his first steps, they are slow and unsteady, but there.

Lena is holding Kimo on her hip and the boy is squirming and the squirming is the squirming of a child who wants down and the wanting down is the thing Lena knows. She sets him on the floor and the floor is the tile of the exam room and the tile is cool and the cool is different from concrete. Kimo's palms hit the floor and the hitting is the sound Dr. Parekh has heard before and the before is last month and the before is the month before that.

"What should I be doing with him?" Lena asks. The asking is the asking of a mother who has been doing what feels right and the right is the thing she wants measured.

"Activities. Exercises. He crawls all day. He's on the site. He's on the balcony. Is there something I should add?"

Dr. Parekh leans against the counter and the leaning is the leaning of a man who is thinking and the thinking is the thinking of a pediatrician who has no textbook for this.

"Everything you're describing is exactly what I'd recommend for a child his age — except his age is four months and he's doing the things a twelve-month-old does. The crawling, the exposure to different surfaces, the language environment — you're giving him more than any curriculum I could write."

"Then I keep going."

"Keep going. The only thing I'd watch is his sleep — he's growing at a rate that demands enormous caloric and metabolic input. If he's sleeping more some days, that's why. Don't restrict it. Don't wake him. Let his body tell you what it needs."

Lena nods and the nodding is the nodding of a mother who sleeps when Kimo sleeps and the sleeping is the balcony floor and the floor is concrete and the concrete is the surface they share. She looks down to check on the boy and the looking down is the looking down of a mother who has been tracking her son's crawling for two months and the tracking is automatic now.

Kimo is not crawling.

Kimo is on his feet. The feet are bare and the bare is the way Lena's feet are bare and the bare is the thing he has never known anything different from. He is holding the edge of the exam table and the holding is the holding of a boy who has been pulling himself up on things for weeks — the lumber stack, the coffee cooler, the barbell rack on the balcony — and the pulling up has been building toward this and the this is here. His hands release the edge. The release is slow and the slow is the slow of a boy who is deciding to let go and the deciding is the thing. One foot moves forward. The movement is unsteady and the unsteadiness is the wobble of a body that has been horizontal for two months and is now vertical and the vertical is new. The second foot follows and the following is a lurch and the lurch is not the lurch of crawling — it is the lurch of walking and the walking is the first walking and the first is three steps. Three steps across the exam room floor and the three steps are slow and unsteady and the unsteadiness is beautiful.

Dr. Parekh is not writing. Dr. Parekh is not leaning. Dr. Parekh is standing very still and the still is the still of a man who has been practicing for nineteen years and has never seen a four-month-old walk and the never is the thing that has broken his pen against the chart and the chart has a mark where the pen pressed too hard. The three steps end and Kimo sits down and the sitting is the sitting of a boy who has done a thing and the thing is done and the done is enough for now.

"He just walked," Dr. Parekh says. The voice is flat and the flat is the flat of a man who is holding something very carefully and the carefully is the way he holds the things that don't fit in his practice.

"He's four months old and he just walked."

"He pulls himself up on everything," Lena says. The saying is calm and the calm is the calm of a mother who has been watching her son pull up on barbell racks and lumber stacks for weeks and the weeks have been building to this and the this was not a surprise. The not surprise is the thing Lena carries and the carrying is the weight of a mother who expects her son to do the next thing and the next thing is always sooner than anyone else expects.

"I need to document this," Dr. Parekh says. The pen is back and the pen is moving and the moving is fast.

"Independent ambulation at four months. Motor milestones — rolling, crawling, pulling to stand, independent steps — all within a twelve-week window. That's not accelerated development. That's a completely different timeline."

"His own timeline," Lena says.

"His own timeline," Dr. Parekh says. The echo is the echo they share and the sharing is the thing that has become the structure of these visits and the structure holds.

"Bring him back in two weeks. I want to see this again. And Lena — keep doing what you're doing. Whatever it is, it's working."

Kimo is on the floor humming and the humming is the humming of a boy who just took his first steps and the first steps are behind him and the behind is the place where the things go that are done and the done is the structure and the structure holds.