Part II
At 2 years, the bones of the foot are developing but there
are still large gaps between the bones.
Until the age of five, the foot grows about 0.9 cm a year.
During this time, a child should wear sturdy shoes that help
him develop balance and stability. A shoe size corresponds to
6.6 mm, which that means that the foot will increase by 5 or
6 shoe sizes until the child is 5 years old. A shoe must be
longer than the foot, not only to permit freedom of movement
but also to allow for growth.
By school age, the foot has 45 bones. Over the next 13 to 14
years, many of these fuse together to form the 26 bones
which, with 38 joints held by 107 semi-elastic ligaments,
make up the mature adult foot. 19 muscles and tendons connect
with the foot, of which 18 are attached to the toes. Badly
fitting shoes can easily deform the growth and formation of
the foot.
At 18 years, the bones are fully formed and hardened, with
only small gaps between them.
The foot has an intricate system of blood vessels and nerves
which give the foot its sense of touch, nutrition and the
ability to move the muscles and tendons. The sole is covered
with about 1700 sensory nerve endings that tell us about how
we are standing on the ground.
Each foot has about 90,000 sweat glands which keep it cool
and give off wastes. Each day an average pair of feet gives
off half a pint of sweat. When the weather is hot and humid,
the foot sweats even more. That is why it is so important
that a shoe should `breathe.'
While most parents recognize the need for correctly fitting
shoes during a child's early years of walking life, few
realize that children's feet remain vulnerable to ill fitting
shoes right through their school days, up to the age of 18
years or so.
By their early teens, many children have crooked toes and
suffer from foot problems which were probably caused by badly-
fitting shoes.
Walking skills develop slowly. Even after your child has
taken those first steps, it can still be a while until he is
walking with confidence.
Learning to walk can take between 1 year -- 2.5 years and can
be broken down into three main stages.
a. First independent steps.
b. Confident toddling.
c. Running and jumping.
Most children take their first independent steps when they
are between 10-16 months old, but it is important not to
force children into walking. At this stage, the child will
tend to waddle with feet wide and legs apart and the legs
might be slightly bowed. He waddles because he is learning to
balance and because of the thickness of his diapers. At
first, the child might take several steps unaided but usually
he will fall over quite frequently. Don't worry if he falls,
because he is much lighter than an adult, more flexible and
closer to the ground, so he does not hit the floor with a
bang as when an adult falls, and he will probably find the
falling to be quite funny, which is a healthy attitude at
this stage.
The second stage of walking development is usually between 14
and 24 months of age. When around 14 months old, the child
usually prefers to toddle a few steps at a time rather than
to crawl.
Naturally, the child is still learning to walk and he might
wobble a lot and bang into objects. When he wants to get up
to start walking, the child will find it easier to get into a
standing position by using a support like a chair to gain
leverage. So you can help him by placing a stable object,
such as a stable chair, next to him.
About three months after abandoning crawling, toddlers will
be able to pull themselves up independently of support and
they will be steady enough to pick up things without falling
or sitting.
Around this time also, toddlers should be able to turn their
heads and look at things as they walk and even glance back
over their shoulders. Then children learn to walk backwards
as well as forwards and start to run. Once they can run
confidently, they then learn to jump.
By the time they are two years old, most children can walk,
run and jump confidently, though they might still
occasionally fall down.
There are warnings against the use of `walkers,' both to use
as baby-sitters and to help teach babies to learn to walk. A
low scooter or push toy is more effective -- and safer. It
forces the child to put his/her foot flat on the floor; it
helps to teach them balance and provides support when they
try to take their first uncertain steps.
As final thoughts, at birth, each foot has 22 bones -- and
there are 22 letters in the alef-bais. Subsequently, each
foot develops 45 bones -- and 45 is the gematria of
one of the Holy Names. Finally, some of these 45 bones fuse
together until, eventually, in the fully developed foot,
there are 26 bones -- which is equivalent to the
gematria of the four- letter Name of Hashem.
Remembering the number of bones in each foot can help us to
take each footstep "for the sake of Heaven."
The Hebrew name for foot is regel, whose numerical
value is 233, which also incorporates the number 26 (2 &
3+3).
If we also include the two small sesamoid bones that help
support the big toe, there are 28 bones in each foot -- and
the number 28 spells out the word koach --
strength.
Furthermore, there are 38 muscles in the foot and the number
38 forms the word chal, which means to take place and
to dance. It is easy to understand how the muscles of the
foot are important for both of these.
Also, if we add together the number of bones (26), muscles
(38) and ligaments (107) in the foot, the total comes to 171,
which is the numerical value of akev, heel (including
the word itself as an extra one, a permissible exercise in
gematriyos).
