Kid stuff

I am super behind on my blogging (so far only 3 entries in the entire month of June, which is rapidly coming to a close!). I have a queue of entries in mind, including and especially ones about our recent 3-day weekend up in Mendocino to celebrate our wedding anniversary (Evelyn's first overnight trip) and the summer solstice baby blessing at Catherine's. I'll have to play catch-up when I have a "free moment" from work.

But before time and memory slip away too much, I feel the need to chronicle a few recent Evelyn developments. Evelyn is getting to be more and more like a kid every day. It's hard to believe that she's already 10 months old (as of June 23!).

At 10 months of age, I think the world of mobility is really starting to open up for her. Evelyn continues to insist on walking a lot, hanging onto our hands or carefully cruising along the furniture, and every once in a while tries to let one hand go to see how she fares. (Still not too well.) A couple of times, she has let go completely and hovered for a couple of cliffhanging seconds before grabbing hold again or falling. She pulls herself up alarmingly easily, sometimes with surprisingly little to hold onto as she stands up (for example, a pane of glass, my pants).

Sometimes when I'm at the sink washing dishes after breakfast, and John's playing with Evelyn before Po Po arrives, I hear Evelyn padding into the kitchen with her commando crawl and eventually I feel the tug of her little hands on the back of my pajama pants. It still makes me nervous, standing there with hands full of soapy dishes while she precariously grips what is a very unstable anchor and makes her way up to standing. Usually, she uses her head as an additional anchor point, lodging it against my thighs (or hamstrings, as the case may be) -- she's tall! (and admittedly, I am short :) -- to gain additional support while she straightens out her legs. But then she's up, and I turn to look down at her round little moon face beaming up at me, pleased as can be. These are among my favorite moments lately.

Evelyn's commando crawl is evolving. We started letting her roam naked in the house on warm days, and noticed that she crawls differently with no clothes on. She gets up on her knees a lot more, and does this crazy crab crawl: hands and right knee on the floor and left foot walking forward. It is both hilarious and bizarre, but I think she finds the elevation and speed refreshing. Nowadays, even when fully clothed, she tends to crawl on her knees more than with her legs splayed out behind her. The quintessential baby crawl - it's a throwback to the classics.

Cruisin' for a bruisin'

Suddenly, all Evelyn wants to do is stand and walk around the house (assisted by an increasingly sore-backed Mama (or Grandma, as the case may be)). Nowadays I just provide slight support with my fingers, whereas I think it was just 1 week ago that she needed a whole lot more support from me. It really is true what they say, that once they start crawling, their development really accelerates. I don't think it's coincidence either that just this past weekend, at my 30th birthday party (pictures still pending!), Evelyn watched Milo and Chloe running around and very clearly wanted to join them. Before, standing and walking took a distant second to commando crawling, but suddenly it's of the utmost importance.

And as the saying goes... the bigger the baby, the harder they fall...



(John thinks I should have taped more of the aftermath of the fall, but what kind of mother continues taping instead of comforting her child?!)

Later that same afternoon, Evelyn was standing in the living room, holding onto the couch, when all of a sudden, she let both hands go and took a step away. It all happened so quickly, and I was even sitting nearby watching, but I was just a split second too late. Luckily she somehow pivoted on her legs right before she fell, so she ended up flat on her back instead of face planting into the rug. Nevertheless, her screams were unbridled and heartwrenching.

I know that these experiences are ultimately good for her, as she learns about balance and the basic laws of gravity. But still, I think watching her learn how to walk is going to shave at least a few months off my life. Already, though, she is learning, and after that fall, she's been a lot more careful about hanging on and keeping her balance. It does make me smile, imagining that she was so sure of herself that she could just let go and start walking. I'm trying very very hard not to hover and protect her too much, and diminish the confidence and spirit behind these herculean efforts.

Yesterday, she officially "cruised" for the first time I think. She inched over from one ottoman to the other (adjacent) one in a tiny little coordinated movement of her hands and feet. Today, she took a couple more tiny steps along the coffee table.... Tomorrow, she's going to rule the playground.

No means no

Unless you're Evelyn that is! Here's proof positive that she actually understands what the word "No" means, but whether or not she listens is a whole other story... So far I think she thinks we say it for her complete amusement.



Remember how John used to play that head-shaking game with Evelyn? Where he would shake his head while making monkey sounds (for some inexplicable reason), and then Evelyn would shake her head in response. Well, now when John makes even the slightest monkey sound, without any head shaking, Evelyn shakes her head immediately. I wonder if we can get on Letterman's Stupid Human Tricks with that one.

In other "No" developments, Evelyn pretty much shakes her head whenever she hears "no" used in a word or sentence, such as when I say "No more!" after she's done eating. I guess we should probably teach her how to nod and respond to "Yes" too, or she might think the world is just a very negative place...

Itsy bitsy genius

OK, I know everyone thinks their baby is a genius, but maybe ours actually is! Today, during a break from work, I was playing with Evelyn in her room. She has this little toy that plays "Itsy Bitsy Spider" if you press the buttons, and while she loves that thing, she hasn't played with it in a while. She's been learning to whistle lately (didn't I say she's a genius?) and so I started whistling to her, and it occurred to me to whistle a tune that she already knows. So I whistled Itsy Bitsy Spider (badly, I might add), and she watched me intently for a while, and then crawled straight over to the Itsy Bitsy Spider toy and started the song! I am not exaggerating here (not that I ever exaggerate...).

After a little while, she got tired of the toy, put it down, and started crawling out of the room. I whistled the song again, and she stopped, turned and looked at me, and then crawled back to the toy and pressed the buttons again. Need I say more?