Shiner Tot

NJ is still working out the kinks in this whole mobility thing. I was snoozing on the sofa after our triumphant return from Oregon a couple of days ago when I heard an explosion of crying from the little diddle's room. She was tooling around on the floor and her knee slipped; before The Wife could get to her, NJ's adorable face smacked into the base of her shelves. She got over it fairly quickly, but a couple of hours later the beginnings of a shiner materialized. Now, she's got a legitimate, if faint, black eye:

I want Tyson! Bring me Tyson!

Hopefully it'll fade away soon, because I don't want to tote her around and have everyone thinking I've got a Mel Gibson temper or something. You never know when you'll be in the same supermarket aisle as a DSHS official.

Twist And Crawling From The Wreckage*

*With apologies to the English Beat and Dave Edmunds

NJ has been inching up to this moment for a few days now, and today she made it official: She is a Crawler.

This is so easy I can do it with my eyes shut!

She started off the week of July 4th by honing her sideways skittering skills, moving all over the basement in a sitting position. By Monday she was taking one step forward while in the crawling position, then falling on her belly. Tuesday she did some more of that, but when she belly-flopped she'd assume the position and take another step. This morning, The Wife assured me that "She's crawling now, definitely." And sure enough, she's been zipping all over my basement office today. Turns out there's lots of stuff in here to worry about! Like this file cabinet:

M-Z, huh? So I'm in this one, right?

Or the computer, on the floor underneath the dangerous wood-and-cast-iron desk:

Brace yourself for the Blue Screen of Death, Daddy!

And, of course, there's my chair:

My tiny little fingers would fit just perfectly under this wheel. Or even inside the wheel's grooves. Oh, but wouldn't that be a bloody, screaming mess, Daddy? Better not take your eyes off me EVER!

There's still a bit of quivering unsteadiness when she crawls, but it's getting better and her skills have improved markedly just since this morning. Soon she'll be chasing down the dogs and shimmying up table legs. I'm going to have to step up my game.

Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner! She Can Manage It Just Fine On Her Own, Thank You Very Much

Daddy, if you hate 'Dirty Dancing' but still use its catch phrase when it fits your purposes, isn't that kind of being a hypocrite? Just sayin'.

NJ is zipping around all over the place these days, but not quite crawling forward yet. She crawls backward and scoots sideways while sitting down, and either mode of transportation can propel her across the vast expanses of the basement floor in seconds.

For a couple of weeks she's been sitting down and leaning waaaaaay forward until she's almost laying down on her stomach; since Sunday she's kept going with that until she flops outright onto her belly. A couple of days ago she elicited some ooooohs and aaaaaahs by returning to an upright sitting position after being sprawled on her belly, something that's become a favorite trick of hers.

NJ is comfortable on her hands and knees, too, and several times in the last couple of days she's moved forward in that position -- for one step.

More steps to come.

Going Mobile

A package of baby-proofing gear -- cabinet locks, a stairway gate, soft corner protectors and shade cord wind-ups -- is due to arrive today from our favorite online purveyor of baby goods and sundries. And just in time, too: Yesterday marked NJ's first serious foray into the world of movement.

I put her down on her tummy at her toy corner here in the office, turned to read a couple of e-mails, then turned back to see her far away from where I'd left her. Then Willie the Lab joined us and NJ backward-crawled over to see him. She kept at it, making something of a Figure Four on the carpet until her feet were pressed up against a toy keyboard, which was pressed against the wall, which meant the end of backward crawling. When The Wife got home later on, NJ was in no mood to replicate her feat, but she obliged for her mother this morning. Again, getting to Willie the Lab was a key motivator.

Separately, yesterday also marked the first time NJ pulled herself up onto her knees during tummy time. Once she puts the knee thing together with the desire to get to the dog, all bets are off.

Today it's been more of the same, with some holding-the-edge-of-the-couch standing for good measure.

Lazy Sunday (And a Blog Post That Reflects It)

It's almost twenty-four hours later, and The Wife is still walking on air because yesterday, in line at Piroshky Piroshky in Pike Place Market, a stranger snapped a photo of NJ. (I know what you're wondering, the real question, and the answer is: I had the beef and cheese.)

NJ was decked out in the new sun hat we'd purchased moments earlier at a place that I'm going to have to sneak back to without The Wife, because they had some awesome rock and roll baby clothes. (Actually, I'm on the fence about returning because I overheard one saleswoman tell the other that she didn't like Eric Clapton, something I cannot abide. That's like saying you don't like sunshine.) Turning 9 months old has marked a growing milestone of sorts for the kid; no growth spurt, per se, but lots of clothes she's worn for a while have ended up in the "too small" pile over the past week. The Wife bought a couple of garments that I figured NJ would have to grow into over a few weeks; she's wearing them today, though, and they fit perfectly. Kid is growing -- pretty soon she won't be able to perform her favorite sleeping trick anymore, the Horizontal Spin:

NJ in 15 years: "Yes, Dad, it was creepy to photograph me while I was asleep."

Random Notes: NJ scooted backwards about two feet two days ago, further proof that babyproofing is in my near future ... Current favorite meal? Chicken and yogurt. Maybe NJ inherited my parents' distaste for lamb ... We think we taught her to "slip me some crimson, Timson" this morning, but her moves need work ... NJ also has been crushing hard on The Two Idiots lately, waving and/or clapping at them whenever they appear, and her affection is almost -- almost -- reciprocated. Willie the Lab has relaxed around her a great deal, and Zeus will even hang around her for a few moments. Still, there's no better way to get them out of a room than for NJ to let out one of her happy shrieks.

Movement On Movement

NJ turns 9 months old this weekend, and she's marking the occasion with a multi-day Wrigglepalooza leading up to the big day. Until recently she hadn't shown any interest in crawling, something that's both perplexed me ("Crawl to the toy! You'll never make the Supreme Court at age 30 if you don't step it up!") and relieved me ("Let's avoid childproofing and chasing her around as long as possible.").

Her peers are figuratively all over the place -- one 10-month-old we know has been crawling for months now, and a couple of other 10-month-olds still haven't bothered with it. The crawler can really book, too; she's crawled rings around NJ a couple of times, leaving NJ grabbing air as she moves past.

Over the past few days, though, NJ has become a lot more mobile. And a lot more interested in being mobile, which may be a distinction without a difference, but still. Three weeks ago, let's say, when NJ found herself on her belly she'd fuss for a moment, then look around, then decide to lay there with her thumb in her mouth before rolling over onto her back. Two weeks ago, for some reason she decided that rolling over immediately was the way to go. A week ago, there some leg action and, instead of immediate thumb-sucking, she's lift her torso up off the floor for a few seconds with her chubby baby arms. And the last couple of days, there's been an obvious escalation in the progression. Now the legs are churning, she lifts herself higher, and when she's laying flat she turns herself around using her arms. She does 360s on her tummy, basically, and occasionally inches forward a little bit before sliding back to her original position. It's fun to watch.

Pretty soon, that knee is going to dig into the carpet and she will pull herself forward until the other knee sticks. Then, Katie had better bar that door we're always hearing about. Or, maybe tomorrow she'll just crawl across the basement floor and stand up at the washing machine, out of the blue. Her most recent milestone is clapping, which she did for the first time yesterday. And it came completely out of nowhere. We clap with her a lot, and she had held our hands when we clapped, but she never showed an interest. Then, yesterday morning The Wife came to drag my butt out of bed and she sat NJ down next to me. NJ sat up and slowly, surely, and very happily clapped her hands together several times. Ever since, we've clapped our hands red trying to get her to do it some more (because it's beyond adorable to watch), but she does it on her own time, when she feels like it. Which is as it should be. (I hate it when the "CLAP!" message comes up on the baseball park scoreboard.) This evening when The Wife walked into the house, NJ smiled big and clapped and, well, it was so sweet and touching it should be an insurance commercial.

Now, even when I sit her at her play tunnel (photo above), she's interested in the toys that are far away from her, not the ones within arm's reach. And sleeping? I have no idea what this kid is doing when she sleeps. We put her smack in the middle of her crib, and for a long time we'd find her in the morning or after a nap in almost exactly the same position. For the past couple of weeks, though, when we go in for her we see a lot of this sideways stuff:

Seriously, who's that cheery when they wake up? Don't worry, kid, life will beat that happiness and childlike wonder out of you eventually.

And yesterday, I went to get her after an afternoon nap and came upon this:

I thought I saw a quarter over here.

Now, she obviously rolled over onto her stomach, and then rolled over again up against the railing there. But how did she get from the middle of the mattress to the corner? If it was a trick -- sorry, NJ, an illusion -- surely I would have heard The Final Countdown.