To Max: Teetering

Like every new parent, and possibly every old parent, we were wondering when you would finally learn to crawl. We tried holding you up so that you could put your hands and knees on the floor and maybe figure it out. You'd seen other kids crawl around and I know you wanted to follow them. It was frustrating to you the way you couldn't keep up with what they were doing. You'd yell when one of the other kids around your age would scoot off to play with a new toy and you couldn't follow.

It was kind of cute.

Right around your Dad's birthday you crawled a few little inches. By Easter you were cruising along the floor fairly competently.You were only nine months old, so I don't know why we fretted about it. As I suspected, you were much happier with your new found mobility. Within a month you could pull up on furniture to standing, all on your own.

That's when the messes you could make started to grow, and when the cats became a little more nervous of you than they already were. I remember the first time that Spooky, who was laying on the coffee table at the time, saw you pull up and came face to face with you in a spot that he thought was safe. His eyes almost bugged right out of his head. He was off like a shot, jumping over the baby gate, and bounding up the stairs.

You liked to pull up on the coffee table, the couches, and chairs and cruise along them. Sometimes when I lay on the floor on my side you'd even pull up on me and cruise up and down from my legs to my head. It was one of the days when you were cruising on me that your dad came home and you took your first steps.

It was June 4th, and when you heard a key turn in the lock you stopped what you were doing and turned your head to see the front door. When that door opened, and you saw Daddy, you let out a squeal and toddled 5-6 steps over to the coffee table then cruised along towards him. Your dad just stood there with his mouth hanging open for a second, and then asked me, "Has he been doing this all day?" A second later he dropped his bags and scooped you up for some well deserved hugs and kisses.

Nope, you hadn't been doing it all day. That was the first time that you took any steps all on your own with nothing and no one to hang onto. You just saw your dad and were so excited that I think you forgot that you didn't know how to walk yet.

Within two weeks you didn't need to crawl anymore. There was one horrible day when you wouldn't crawl at all, only walk, and you also wouldn't nap. I'm happy to say that you've gone back to your two nap a day schedule,  and you will also crawl sometimes just for fun.

There's this hysterical thing that you've taken to recently. You will crawl as fast as you can going "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" You aren't too loud, but louder than your regular speaking voice. Sometimes you'll run doing this too, but usually it's reserved for a crawling race. A race that you always win, because you're the only in it.

Nothing is safe from you anymore, but I wouldn't trade these crazy toddling times for anything.