What I need here is a video clip

You should all see the extremely non-elegant, yet adorable way Will has of getting around. He is now an independent walker, but I must use the term "walker" with some restraint. Will's body swaying left to right reminds me of a western showdown. If Will was packing a Colt 45 on each thigh his gait would make a lot more sense and would appear manly.
I went out and bought some euro-styled walking boots at his PT's suggestion. It was the last step (pun intended) before orthotics were going to be pursued. I was ecstatic when I saw the euro styling as I was expecting another pair of miniature army boots.
That ankle support did the trick and Will was off and getting into more trouble than I had counted on. Still, his off and running style was more of a 'howdy, pardner' sashay. Don't think for one minute that a pendulating cowboy walk is slower than another form of ambulation though.

Yesterday was Will's MFE (Multi-factored evaluation) and I sat at a table with 8 professionals who had assessed Will last week. They were evaluating if Will was eligible for special services at school next year. (If you are a new parent or are expecting a child with DS, don't you kind of assume that it's automatic? I did, but that is apparently not the case.) Anyway, after the PT reviewed her assessment of Will I told her I was going to quote directly from it here. Her description of how Will walks made me laugh when I heard it explained in a clinical and right to the point fashion.

Will uses a bearwalk stance to come to standing.(That's good they tell me)He ambulates independently using an immature waddling gait pattern, semi-high guard position of the upper extremities, exaggerated trunk sway, decreased trunk rotation and extension, and decreased heel-toe progression.

Will did qualify for PT, ST and OT after all, but interestingly, he scored boring old normal in the behavior, emotional and cognitive areas. We now refer to normal as average, and isn't average a touch blase? I understand that Will is not apt to stay average forever, but for right now the unpredictable and extra-energetic lifestyle of a two year old puts him at "normal".

The analogy of walking down a lesser travelled path for families who include a child with DS is often used. So here we are, a family progressing down a relatively quiet thoroughfare, following a very small, tow-headed cowboy who is ready to take on the world.