6-months-old baby who learnt to walk before he could crawl

Xavier was born in July last year weighing a healthy 9lb 1oz. His parents suspected he would be a fast learner when he was sitting up on his own at only three months.
But his rush to his feet still came as a surprise, especially as Xavier hadn't even begun to crawl.

Hey, look at me: Six-month-old Xavier gets up and prepares to toddle off

A month on and Xavier comfortably covers 6ft on his own. And he is improving every day.
'It was such a shock. We couldn't believe it,' said Mary, 30, a first-time mother from Cambridge. 'I never thought for one moment he would be walking at six months. Most children don't until they are a year old.
Mary believes a bouncing chair in which she used to sit her son might have helped build up the muscles in his legs, adding: "It's funny how he learned to walk before he learned to crawl. I always thought it would be the other way around. The only problem now is that I can’t leave him alone for a minute. I’ve had to buy a playpen so he doesn’t get into any mischief."

Arms outstretched to keep his balance, the boy makes his way across the room

Mum Mary, 30, and dad David King, 27, a shopping centre manager, believed Xavier was a fast learner when he started sitting up alone at just three months old. Even so, they were astonished when he wobbled to his feet and began tottering around at their home in Cambridge.

Mary and David King say they always knew their son would be a fast learner as he could sit up from the age of three months

Neither Mary nor her husband, a 27-year-old shopping centre manager, learned to walk before they were a year old, she said