First steps, first shoes

I am all about marking every milestone, from Ethan's first words to his first haircut, which is why our recent visit to Clarks was such an exciting time for us.

Ethan has been pulling himself up on his feet for quite a while now and every day, he's getting more confident, shuffling around the lounge, one had holding onto the sofa or table for support. He's getting lots of practice at nursery and it won't be long before he's walking for real.

So, the time came to buy him his first shoes. Proper shoes. Ones with solid soles and lots of support for his growing feet.

We went to Clarks, as without question, I knew they were experts and every little boy should have a special pair of first shoes. And it seems that Clarks agree. I was there, snapping away on my phone, keen to capture the memory of Ethan having his feet measured for the very first time, when the Clarks sales assistants told us how they too think it's an important occasion.

After measuring his feet for the first time (he's currently a 3 1/2 G), we took a look at the shoes they had in his size and let Ethan choose which pair to take home.

The assistant then said would we like Ethan's photo taken in his new shoes, to go inside a certificate booklet. Erm, yes please! They took his photo then handed us his new shoes in a lovely box with a beautiful poem inside the lid and gave us a very nice booklet that explains all about how children's feet develop. There's a lot more to it than it looks and I knew I wanted to get a really 'good' pair of first shoes to support Ethan as he moves from cruising to walking.

At the cruising stage. the soft cartilage-like structure in a child's foot is staring to ossify - gradually forming most of the bones they will need to support their foot. When they start walking, there's 25 different bones forming in their foot, so it's important they get the right support. Apparently, after they turn one year old, their feet will grow around 16mm (two sizes) every year thereafter until they are five years old and it's recommended that you take them for shoe fitting checks every six to eight weeks.

When reading the booklet, I also noticed it included a note from Katie at Mummy Daddy Me - what a nice surprise!

Here are the shoes that Ethan picked out as his first. Another milestone ticked off and a step closer to his first steps...