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walking

(Un)steady as she goes

I’ve been asked quite a few times to put up a video of Arddun walking. Easier said than done, because putting up a video would imply having a video of her walking in the first place. Which is like trying to catch a cloud and pin it down. Or keeping a wave upon the sand.

As Tony can testify, she’s very good at walking behind your back. Quite literally.

Blink and you miss it.

But then today, she decided that she needed the practice. And so she walked from the kitchen bench to the fridge. And from the guest bedroom door to the kitchen bench. And from the playpen to the fridge. And from the kitchen cabinet to the dishwasher. And from the toilet to the laundry, pause, and then to the bathroom.

And it took me about 4 hours to realise that all this walking around would be perfect for whipping out my camera and taking a video. Because that’s the other reason we haven’t had a video of her walking in the first place. I’m a bit duh, and I don’t always remember to put two and two together.

And so here’s a short.

TTT – Walking, Hunting, Ironing

1. Rounding the wagon

Ever since Arddun’s 20+ paces, it’s like she’s made a mental breakthrough with the whole OTHER use for legs, other than crawling. I won’t go so far as to say that she’s walking now, because she isn’t. She makes the occasional sneaky run for it from one chair to another when she thinks no one’s paying attention. And then she spends the rest of the time crawling.

Still… she’s standing a lot more now, and she’s figured out how absolutely fun it is to push her toy wagon around. Best part? After months of leaving a trail of destruction in her crawling wake, she now pushes her little wooden wagon around the house, picks random things up, and places them in her wagon. It’s like housekeeping, only 76cm high and unable to reverse properly without bashing furniture, skirting boards, and toes.

2. Finding the bargain

Cooking with mummyOh the Baby & Kids Market, oh how I adore thee. Thou melting pot of cheap books, clothes and toys, thou labyrinth of pre-loved goods and good-as-new designer baby clothes… Except this year, they were situated next to Erotica Lifestyles Expo 2012, which meant parking got doubly hard because the Erotica crowd preferred to park near the market and feign interest in bargain hunting, before doing the surreptitious walk of shame to the expo for the last 20 paces or so.

Whatever. I spent waaay too much money there, but came home with pretty awesome stash including a brand new mobile flat-pack high chair which I can clip to our kitchen bench, so Arddun can finally see how a traditional Nonya babi ponteh gets cooked Mommy Style.

3. Tackling the ironing

I loathe, loathe ironing. And now that I’m not working, I’m even less motivated to run a chunk of heated metal across clothes for hours on end. But this last week, Arddun’s discovered how FUN it is to help herself to my to-be-ironed pile of clothes by pulling a stack of them off my laundry basket to the floor, and then diving into them like a pile of autumn leaves, before making off with one or two articles in her wagon or on her determined little head.

And so I tackled the ironing this week. Got about 35 pieces done and am feeling mighty smug. There’s still a stack of un-ironed clothes stashed in the laundry basket, but at least they are out of sight and therefore, out of baby-diving range. I know you’re probably appalled that I even have that many clothes un-ironed, but I’m still mighty proud of myself. So there.

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.

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