Stairs are really scary, especially when you weigh under ten pounds.

I remember having to teach a six-week-old Nix to go up and down the stairs, using a cookie to lure him and my heart breaking a little bit as he squeaked and whined because OH MY GOD THE NEXT STAIR WAS SOOOOO FAR AWAY! He would finally conquer one stair, only to be overwhelmed by the next, and the one after that.

(It was a process.)

Now three years old, he bounds up and down stairs FEARLESSLY! (Or as fearlessly as he can muster, since he’s basically the biggest wimp I’ve ever met.) But I will never forget where we started. It looked a lot like this.