Babies take different routes to the same destination. There's no right way to learn to walk, for example, and there's scarcely even a right time: The accurate range for when babies should start extends from 8 months to almost 20 months—an amazingly, almost meaninglessly broad stretch of time. The most interesting research on motor development in recent years treats it as the product of many different systems: the infant's environment, personality, nervous system, and personal physical limitations. When all these variables interact, you get a lot of different results, as countless studies have made clear.
Actually, right. I really haven't been super-concerned about Hebs, probably because he's my fourth child and I've learned a lot about gross motor functions (walking, sitting, moving around) from Gee's therapists. But it is nice to know that, really, Hebs isn't even considered abnormally late in walking!
Of course, the article also has a picture of an eleven-month-old Efe infant (from the Democratic Republic of Congo), using a machete to cut open a piece of fruit. So, yeah, Hebs is a little behind. (So, for that matter, is Gee, Em, and Zee. I very rarely let them play with the machete while I am making fruit salad, so their skills are a little rough around the edges.)
My brother Leon didn't walk until he was 18 months. He was also late in talking and he turned out to be normal in every other way.
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