On the go

Some babies are content to sit, play with their toys, look at their hands, and just generally watch the world go by. They wait to crawl until their parents crawl around the room themselves to teach them, and take their time learning to stand, take steps, pull up on the stairs, and other milestones.  They can sleep anywhere as long as they're being snuggled, and a pacifier can quiet them without fail.

This is not my child.

My child learned how to crawl not quite one month ago, and since then, she has decided to complete the "physical" milestones (meaning: crawling, walking, pulling self up, etc.) listed in the What to Expect in the First Year book as fast as possible.  Shortly after learning to crawl, she got herself up on her knees, hanging onto whatever was in front of her - including the stairs.  Next she learned to pull things off of shelves. Goodbye, books, pictures, and anything that can't be chewed.  Somewhere along the way, she learned to move from crawling to sitting, so when I would lay her down for a nap in her crib (she only occasionally nurses herself to sleep lately), she would sit up and cry instead.  Yesterday I found her sitting with her face about 1 inch from the Baby Einstein fishy thingy, just watching it and chewing on her fingers.  Playtime is really me just playing keep-away...keeping her away from pulling on the dog's tail, keeping the dog away from trying to lick her (which she likes, but gross), keeping her away from things she shouldn't have.

And then, today, wouldn't you know it - I walked into her room to lay her back down (I assumed she would be sitting up) and say "you're a good girl. I love you. Take a nap," only to find her STANDING.  The child was STANDING in her crib, obviously proud of herself for figuring out another thing to turn my hairs gray.  Because we're great parents, we hadn't moved her mattress down to the lowest setting yet, so I obviously panicked, plucked her from her crib, and called my husband to tell him that the first thing he needed to do after arriving home tonight was lower the mattress.  Now that I think about it, she's not very tall, so I don't think she could actually get out of the crib...but what do I know?

Because I'm home most of the time, all of this chasing can quickly turn from fun to exhausting, so I jump on opportunities to leave her with Ryan or a trusted someone.  Example: a conversation from yesterday:

Ryan: Ugh. I need to mow the lawn again.
Me: I'll do it! I will!  Let me just go change clothes.
Ryan: Uh, okay. Do you really want to mow the lawn?

I didn't answer because I was already upstairs changing my clothes.

She also tries to eat everything. In the last few days, I have removed a tiny piece of carpet, a small wad of paper, and a piece of fuzz from her mouth.  (See, here is where a mean mommy, which is the older version of a mean girl, would say: "If you were watching your child, she couldn't eat anything." To this I say, "um, hello, if I turn my head for ONE HALF OF ONE SECOND, she gets into something. I am not a miracle worker. Also, I find it difficult to believe that your child has never gotten him or herself into some kind of shenanigan.")  Luckily she makes a pretty distinct noise while chewing, so it's pretty obvious when she has something in there. I'm fairly certain I could vacuum every single day, and it wouldn't be enough - not to mention she is terrified of the vacuum cleaner and wails every time I turn it on, even if she was napping with the bedroom door closed or if someone else is with her and trying to entertain her.

How old do kids have to be to take gymnastics?  I can think of nothing better than her climbing around somewhere that is full of squishy padding.

Later, dudes.