after less than a week of learning the basic mechanics of crawling, 8 month old braeden's crawling has reached new levels. literally. we have one of those silly multi-level houses with two steps separating the carpeted family room from the hardwood floored kitchen. last night, with a ton of encouragement, and only a slight amount of help from his sister, braeden managed to climb the two stairs into the kitchen.
todd was excited about the crawling in general, but expressed some concern about braeden rushing to accomplish steps. my opinion (as if it matters, there's no stopping the growth freight train)- crawl, pull-up, stair climb, cruise, walk, go, go, GO! yes, it means more work for me to keep up with him and try to keep the electrical wires out of his teeth, but it also means less frustration for him with regards to his mobility. ultimately, i'm not one of those people who adores babies, and wants to keep them little and tender forever. i like to watch the growth. each phase comes with its own challenges, so i won't say having kids is easier than having babies, but i am comfortable in saying i just like it more once they're 2+.
admittedly, the mobility causes issues. especially as it coincides with the phase of the finger pinch grasp. now, not only crap from a two foot square area of floor can, and does, end up in his mouth. now, it's the whole damn floor acting as a giant dust bunny buffet.
abi, i believe, has come up with the perfect solution to this little problematic phase. last night i saw her sitting on top of her tall plastic laundry hamper as it sat, inverted, over a seated and confused braeden.
points for ingenuity, abi.
I like your outlook -- I think babies get more frustrated than people realize over their lack of ability to do things. They want to move more and express more than they're physically able.
ReplyDeleteMy earliest memory is of me crawling (couldn't walk yet) and grabbing a big hunk of dust and dirt with a tasty middle of chalk. Yes, it was a chalk hairball. I picked it up quizzically , I remember thinking that I wasn't supposed to eat it for some reason. Who knew? So I ate it anyway. (Yuck!) Of course I began crying at the nastiness of chalk and my mom came to the rescue. But I am still impressed with having that memory, it tells me that kids know a lot more than is obvious, and that hairball-eating is mandatory.
When my daughter learned how to crawl, it was a major turning point for us. Suddenly she wasn't so demanding because she could do things on her own. We had spent the previous 8 months constantly holding her because she would not have it any other way (we tried). Once she crawled, we were finally able to relax a little and let her be happy with her new ability to do things on her own.
ReplyDeleteI love the image of Abi sitting on the hamper with a confused Braeden inside. Adorable!
Abi sounds gorgeously funny. I really enjoyed reading the 'where do cows get milk' post. Braeden sure has a great big sister!
ReplyDeleteAlso, thank you for your comment, I really appreciate it. I agree, they are quite big goals, but I am trying to do just a bit each day. Regardless, I guess they are more lifestyle goals, more so than one-year-long goals.
:)