The World At Her Fingertips

    I knew it would happen at some point, but it seems you’re never ready for a big change when it shows up. I like to plan for things – I have my post-it list every day, my calendar is very reliable, so when things are just sprung on me, there is a bit of an adjustment period for me. 

    Over this past weekend, A made up her mind that she had rolled around on the floor enough and it was time to get moving and really see her world! Yes, my sweet baby girl has figured out the complex motions of crawling, and she has taken off. I think the motivation might have also come from the fact that my husband decided to go ahead and put the baby gate up just days before the crawling actually started. A must have figured out that it was there for a reason, so she better get moving and figure out why. 

    And now that the crawling has started, so have the boundaries. No, you may not climb on the fireplace. No, you cannot get in the dog’s bed. No, you cannot touch the warm oven door. No, you cannot play in the bathroom. I must sound like the meanest mom, huh? All these rules! A is not too fond of them either. She probably never imagined all these limits and boundaries; but then again, I never imagined the persistence she would have either! 

    It seems every time she gets into something or goes somewhere she shouldn’t, I pick her up and bring her back to the “safe” area where we started. Of course, once I set her down, the game is on, and she is on her hands and knees crawling right back to where I just took her from. She crawled over to her book shelf this morning and pulled all of her books off (my organized self really had to intentionally let her do this), she has managed to find every miniscule crumb on the floor (didn’t I just vacuum?), and she really likes crawling after our dog and trying to pull at his tail. 

    I love watching her explore and get around – it’s all so new to her, and you can tell that curiosity has really grabbed hold of her heart. I want to foster that love for learning and exploration instead of worrying about keeping all the books so nicely stacked on the shelf. Now, if I can just keep up with her and all the energy she has, that would be great!