Mom Tries To Film Baby’s First Steps, Captures Something Unexpected Instead – ryan

A mom who thought she was filming her daughter’s first steps ended up capturing another unexpected milestone moment on camera.

Videos can play an important role in family life. They offer the opportunity to capture key moments in the early years of a child. Moments that can then be replayed and enjoyed by parents and family members alike.

It is a process that can bring people together. In 2020, a study in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology found that the experience of watching a video together creates a “social closeness” between children and adults.

One day, mom-of-two Amanda Molinari will probably sit down with her kids and watch the footage she recorded of them a few nights ago, but not necessarily for the reasons she had originally intended.

When Molinari first hit record, she was hoping to capture her 6-month-old daughter Vianna walking for the first time.

“We all just got done having dinner and we always play right before bath time,” Molinari told Newsweek. “We’ve noticed our daughter has been getting onto her hands and knees, trying to lunge back and forth. Since it’s my second baby and I know they just do things so fast and out of nowhere, I was just laying on the ground trying to record her.”

But while Molinari had her sights set on capturing Vianna walking, her 2-year-old son Julian had other ideas. What happened next was captured on camera in a video Molinari later shared to TIKTok as @ amm5.20.

Out of nowhere, Julian appeared, blocking the view of Vianna, before proceeding to say “CHEEEESEEE” into the camera.

“My son knows the camera because of the flash, and it attracts his attention and we always say, ‘Go, cheeeeeeeese,’ and he must have caught that the flash was on from the corner of his eye and decided to say, ‘CHEEEEESEEE,’” Molinari said.

It might have seemed like an ordinary interaction between two siblings—an older child gate-crashes his younger sister’s moment in the spotlight—but Julian’s starring role on the video had more significance than many might have realized.

“We were told on Julian’s second birthday that he is autistic and it’s going to be quite some work to get him to talk,” Molinari said. “So it was just truly a beautiful thing I got to capture my first baby doing something I’ve dreamed of: finally hearing his voice.”

Molinari had hit record that day hoping to catch her baby’s milestone but ended up getting her toddler’s instead.

“I was so excited I stopped recording immediately,” she said. “I wanted to cry, of course, and react so badly, but he gets super shy when I show over-excitement.”

She might not have gotten Vianna walking on camera, but there is time for that. Right now, Molinari is happy watching that moment back again and again.

“It was one of the best things in the world to hear Julian finally say something,” she added. “Knowing he finally said an actual word makes me super excited to see what else he can say in the next few months.”

One day, she hopes to share it with Julian. For now, she is happy sharing it on social media. “I want to show other parents with children on the spectrum that our babies can beat the odds,” Molinari said. “It’s just believing in them and being patient.”