I love the flexible sole of this shoe. My daughter is 16 months and is still needing to find balance with walking and running. This is the only way I can justify the price for these. This is our second pair of stride rite srt. I buy them a half size larger and she does just fine with the extra room. She may also be wearing thicker socks at the end of the fall season. One star off because of the price, but are truly a high quality shoe.