Where did my BABY go?

- November 04, 2014

Sitting Up and Low Crawling

I'm not quite sure when my newborn/infant turned into an almost toddler but we are most certainly on that bridge. Today when I went to visit Jellybean during lunch, he was low crawling towards a rattle on the other side of the room! Yesterday the ladies told me he had managed to low crawl under a table and fell asleep there. It's quite a shock to say the least. When my little man first started going to daycare, I laid him on his back with a toy across his belly and there he would stay. Even when he could start flipping over, I knew that he'd stay on that play mat. They normally separate the immobile kiddos from the mobile ones, and I've been used to seeing Jellybean hanging out with the 3-5 month olds that happily watch the older kids moving around. It seems that in the blink of an eye, my Jellybean has become one of those older kids that they need to keep away from the younger ones!

Excuse me Father Time, but you need to slow down that clock. It doesn't seem that long ago when I was getting excited that he could sit up for more than 5 seconds at a time. During those brief moments, I'd ardently sit behind him ready to catch his wobbly torso. Now, he sits up like a pro and I can plop him in the sitting position and not worry he'll tip over. If he does tip over, it's definitely because he wants to. And to make things even worse, this son of mine knows how to get from being on his belly to the sitting position. Again, Father Time....what are you doing to me here? Apparently, Jellybean likes to do things his own way because this son of mine doesn't move into the sitting position like normal babies. He first gets into his baby yoga pose (downward dog) and then leans to the side until his bum is on the ground before he pulls himself up. Apparently most babies just roll to the side push themselves up with their upper bodies. SMH Jellybean.

Now the crawling....actually the low crawling, he is an Air Force brat after all. He hasn't quite figured out how to get his knees to move with his arms so he low crawls, or basically pulls himself, wherever he wants to go. That's quite the upper body strength you've got there Jellybean! We bought some thick puzzle piece foam play mats to put on top of our hardwood floors now that he gets around. I expect him to get some bumps and scrapes as he figures out how to move, but if I can prevent him bumping his head on our hardwood floors, I will do just that. I also bought a Rugrats style play yard that will hopefully be here by the end of this week.

I'm a little apprehensive about putting up a play yard in the house. The OCD in me already has a hard time making sure his baby toys and baby items are in their proper place after every play session. I can only imagine what a play yard in the middle of the room will do to my craziness. And then when he's older and leaves a mess everywhere he goes......well, we won't go there just yet. *Breathe*

Bottom line, I went from tiny one month premature baby to sitting up/low crawling baby in what feels like two seconds. I've read that "bigger" babies tend to reach those mobility milestones later than smaller babies. That's definitely not Jellybean's case. He's right on track with sitting up and low crawling/soon to be crawling. He's even working at pulling himself up to the standing position. I think the bumbo and high chair paid huge dividends in building those stomach muscles he needs to help him sit up. Not to mention.....he prefers to sleep on his tummy so the added tummy time gave him some extra practice.

Crawling is just around the corner, and then walking. As we head into the holidays, I wonder what kind of adventures we'll have by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, and then Christmas! It's definitely the most exciting time of the year in the Moran house.