Al-Jude walk !!!!

We have been working very diligently to get Allan walking independently (yeah, I know, remind me that this was a goal when he and Griffith are running full-on in different directions). The current "game" that we play involves setting Allan on a chair cushion on the floor (so it is like a bench) and putting the giraffe up on the couch. When you put a ball in the giraffe's mouth it plays a happy (if you are Allan) or an annoying (if you are me) little tune and lights light up (thanks, Heather!)
We start off very close to the couch and keep moving the cushion farther and farther away. The trick with Allan is to convince him that there is some reward for his efforts (tune/lights) and to make him forget that he isn't holding on to anything. So we have him hold two balls, one in each hand.
Last night was a stellar effort. We were all home with nothing to do in the, oh, say, 15 minutes, between dinner/dishes and bath time so we decided to show Da what we could do.
Big Al was quite the rock star - over and over again he would pop up, steady himself and launch for the couch. He knows that momentum will get him a little farther than he might otherwise so there are times when he heads off at a precipitous pace. He also tends to dive at the end which sometimes leads to a face-plant on the couch, but, really, those are petty criticisms. We all cheered him on, including Griff, who was delighted by all the activity.
After about ten minutes of this, Griff grabbed a couple of the balls himself, sat down on the cushion, popped up and did a positively scandalous imitation of Allan tottering and diving for the giraffe --- complete with face-plant. Honestly, it was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Then he turned around and squealed "yeah!!!!" and clapped just like we had done for Allan. We, of course, complied and gave him his 'atta boys' just like we did for Allan.
We then put the boys in the tub and got them ready for bed. Allan wasn't quite ready to give up on the solo-ing, though and took 2 or 3 steps (he had done up to 6 before) to get to the chair. Griff looked at me and say "Al-Jude walk !!!" Yes, he sure did.