On the Move
Our child is becoming more mobile. It all began with her raising her head while on her stomach. “Tummy time” as they call it. She then began more complicated maneuvers like rolling over to her opposite side. The problem was, she could never get back to where she began. She’d cry and we’d set her straight, only to have her flip right back over again. Either she’s a really young show off, or she just wants to wear us down as early as possible so she can get her way. So far she’s got me promising her ponies and a house in the country just to get her to stay still. It’s not working.
This has all been building up to today, where she decided to show us that all her hard work is paying off. We had her on her rainforest playmat, her eyes gazing into the flashing lights and her hands reaching out to grasp the plastic animals. Amazonian birds and frogs chirped, she cooed and let out more of the raspberries she’s working on perfecting. She finds them very funny, especially when she’s got a mouthful of rice cereal.
The wife was busy writing thank you cards for friends and family who had recently given us more clothes to add to the baby’s wardrobe. It’s astonishing how little we’ve had to purchase for her in the way of clothes so far, and we are so appreciative of it. I was getting ready to run out to pick up that night’s dinner. We were in the same room as the baby, so we knew where she was (or so we thought). One minute she’s on her playmat and the next she’s about 5 feet away, lounging underneath a nearby chair with one of her legs wrapped around one of its legs.
That’s how quickly it happens. I’ve heard that once they become mobile you absolutely need to keep a more watchful eye on your child. However I underestimated our 7 month old. She pulled some ninja shit here; all that was missing was the puff of smoke for the ‘now you see her, now you don’t’ trick. No one warned us about the Top Gun barrel rolls our child was going to perform, but now we have to look out for those and which direction she does them in. I just hope she radios in to request permission to do a tower fly-by, rather than hot dogging it like Cruise did.
We’re at that point where milestones are starting to happen. The roller coaster has been creeping up that big hill, giving us time to think about the course ahead and how it’s going to feel once we start plummeting towards it. These last 6 months have just been a build-up to the main event, breaking us in to things like fussing, crying, changing countless diapers and lack of sleep. Now we’re coming to the top of the hill and we’re seeing things like teething, crawling and baby-proofing all about to rush towards us. I’m a fan of roller coasters, but my wife can’t stomach them. I wonder which of us this ride will make puke first?
