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Finding The Happy

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Standing

Going places

Arddun hasn’t been showing a huge interest in walking. She’s been crawling and standing around for four months, but we’ve never put her in a walker and she has never pushed around her little wooden wagon or her Mega Bloks cart. Every now and then, I’d hold her hand to check if she literally needs a helping hand to go places, but nada. She’d take a couple of steps and then her knees would go soft so she could sink to the ground and crawl at breakneck speed to whatever she reckoned was fascinating. Paper, usually.

“She’s just not interested in walking,” I had explained to Lisa and baby Charlotte this afternoon over coffee. “No interest whatsoever. Want her wagon?”

And then we went home and watched a bit of Grey’s Anatomy because I’m hooked and I’m now a housewife. And then much later in the afternoon, it dawned on me that I’ve never actually asked my daughter if she would like to walk.

So this evening, while she was just standing around under the dining room table as per normal,

Starting position
Arddun, standing around under the dining table as per normal

I sat two feet away, looked levelly at her, stretched out my arms, and casually asked if she’d like to walk over to me.

And so she did.

!!!

Did it another time, just to make sure it wasn’t a one-off. It took some work – she still really isn’t interested in walking – but we finally got there once we both realised that the NBN mail flyer makes a nice a-wooka-wooka cardboard sound when you flap it. And Arddun loooooves paper and funny sounds.

So she did her 4-5 step mambo another four times before she decided that crawling is INFINITELY better and why wasn’t Daddy home yet? Let’s sit by the door and wait for him.

And thus endeth Arddun’s maiden first steps. !!!

My little girl is walking! EEEEAAAAAHHHHH!

On a related note, I was wondering why I was feeling off-kilter this morning, until I noticed this:

Wrong shoes
Left shoe has small heel, right shoe is ballet flat. Yuh.

So let’s just confirm that Arddun doesn’t get her poise and sense of balance from her mother, okay? Okay.

Month seven

Clearly, we need an action plan for the months going forward.

Photo 1:

Taken literally a second after I plonk her on the seat.

Photos 2 to 9: monthversary pose phail

   
   

Boundless, boundless energy interrupted only by two naps – if we’re quick enough to catch you after the first yawn and third eye-rub, and right before the drop off the cliff into Screaming Feralness (also known as the Point of No Return of sleep.)

You are a baby kisser, did I mention that? Except now, with your new-found crawling and climbing skills, you march over to where other babies congregate and with both your chubby hands, will proceed to grab a bald head and kiss/chomp its eyebrows.

You have learned to embrace me and the world – your arms thrown open in trusting innocence whenever you need a hug or a lift, your mouth stretched wide as soon as you realise there’s pumpkin or fruit to be had. You smile at strangers, always. You watch them in fascination and smile a little and a little, your penetrative baby stare boring the sides of their faces like a tiny beam of warm sun until they finally turn, and behold! Megawatt smile. You grin so hard, your cheeks turn rosy and taut and your eyes almost disappear, such is your focus on delighting your new friends.

You are fearless. You sit, so you must now crawl. You crawl, so you must now stand. You stand, so you must now walk. One flat foot forward, and then another. Wibbly-wobbly, but oh so determined. The tiled floor is hard and unforgiving, and yet you never seem fazed for too long. I have a little lamb, for everywhere I go, Arddun is sure to follow.

You are SO much fun to have around, truly.

I really wasn’t kidding about the trying-to-stand-up business.

20120109-144819.jpg

So here I was, getting Arddun’s lunch ready in the kitchen this afternoon, when an excited shout got my attention. Turned around in time to witness the stance above. Yes, left knee seemingly locked in half-bend, legs faaaar apart, Arddun looking suitably pleased with herself.

Don’t know how long she had been keeping that yogaesque position, but I ran for the camera. Came back, and she was still standing just so. As soon as the click of the camera was heard however, she plopped back down on her bottom and promptly lost her balance and twacked her head.

Call me ridiculous, but I do believe the girl is starting to pose for pictures.

Sitting pretty

A trial session at Gymbaroo left Mommy Group Sara and I with the knowledge that propping our babies up in the sitting position is bad, as babies need to learn to pull themselves to the sitting position as that is when they’re TRULY able to sit. Something about spinal development etc etc.

Whatever. I mean, the girl has been sitting in a high chair to consume her meals for the past 4 weeks, and she’s been hanging out in the Bumbo for longer. Nevertheless, as with all other baby advice, you do what you can and you close an eye if you think it’s all a bit hysterical.

But as with all advice, it meant that this nugget of information lurked about my subconscious for ages, so I’ve stopped using the Bumbo except for occasional meals, and I’ve completely left Arddun to her own sitting devices. In other words, I’ve not pulled her into a sitting position then let go so she could sit and balance on her own. Either she’s in my lap fully supported, or she’s on her back/front on the floor.

In other words, we’ve left her to learn to sit fully unassisted.

Today, it happened. As if to show us a magic trick she had been practising secretly during “bedtime” (and I really wouldn’t put it past her to do that), she sat in her playpen and with eyes never leaving us, with a mouth curved open in triumph, she pulled herself into a full sitting position. Balanced buttocks and everything. And stayed there for 20 seconds, perfectly nonchalant.

TAKE A PHOTO! TAKE A PHOTO! TAKE A PHOTO! TAKE A PHOTO!

"Look, Daddy and Mummy! NO HANDS!"
All hanging toys now within munching distance

We looked fondly at her. All sitting up proper, like ’em babies in those daytime commercials. But within a minute – we kid you not – she reached over to the grills, grabbed them with both hands, and proceeded to try and stand up.

I was so gobsmacked with her audacity, I forgot to take a video or a photo. Tony reckons she’s reached the sitting milestone and needs a new challenge. Whatever. Crawl before you stand and run, child. I’ve only just gotten used to pulling you out from under sofas, beds and cabinets.

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