Later, I took you to the library and you were crawling through the lower CD shelves. Then while you were standing holding onto the big wooden activity blocks you fell and bumped your chin, causing your lower teeth to cut into the bottom of your tongue giving you a bloody mouth. You screamed and cried so loud, but I scooped you up and after a minute you had calmed down. Soon you wanted down out of my arms, ready to explore and crawl around again.
When Daddy got home we finally showed him how you could climb the stairs and you made it up both flights of stairs all by yourself! You love to crawl up the first flight of stairs and then you sit yourself at the top, look at me, and we clap and cheer for a few seconds, then you start toward the second flight of stairs. You have such determination and are so proud of yourself once you reach the top.
But then something scary happened, I sat you down at your toy in the living room and Daddy went upstairs to change. I walked into the kitchen for a minute to grab a bagel and when I walked back you were gone, I went to the stairs wondering if Daddy had taken up with him and there I saw you- almost to the top of the first set of stairs!- no one watching you. In just a minute you had crawled from your toy in the living room to the stairs and up them! Then as I watched, you reached the top and started to sit yourself down but you were so close to the edge that you suddenly fell backwards. I caught you as you fell and scooped you up. It was so scary. If I had been there moments later you would have fallen down all the stairs. Now I know I can no longer leave you alone, even for a minute.
Also this week, you got a leg full of little splinters! You had been crawling around on the deck and later I noticed you had little splinters all over your right leg and a couple on your palms. I felt terrible and called to doctor's office to ask what I should do. The nurse made me feel better and told me that with her daughter she uses something called "Prid", which is a "drawing" cream. It's black and smells like tar and she didn't know how, but she said it works. I went to CVS to get some and I asked the pharmacist about it and she also said that she's used it many times for her daughter because of their old wood floors. So it looks like splinter are more common than I thought. Your leg still looks bad but I think the cream has been working them out.
You are really good at pulling up and standing and, more importantly, bending your knees and getting back down. I noticed you can take one or two steps when holding onto something, but you are not "cruising" yet. You still LOVE turning the water on in the tub and your newest "cause and effect" discovery is the ceiling fan in our room that has a remote. You are so cute, you push the buttons and immediately look up at the fan to see if anything happens and then, of course, the remote goes in your mouth. :)
It is amazing for us to watch you learn how to do things on your own. Sometimes it's hard to just be there, literally, to catch you if you fall, and let you struggle and succeed on your own, in your own time and development. But it is so cool to see what you can do and how you gradually figure things out and already LOVE to learn and discover.
I've changed a few things with your bedtime routine. I brush your teeth, which you love, and we say the prayer from your dedication book. I've also started singing a sweet new song to you at bed time. It's one we sing at church, "The Servant Song":
We are travelers on a journey
Fellow pilgrims on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load
I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the nighttime of your fear
I will hold my hand out to you
Speak the peace you long to hear
Sister let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too
Brother let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too
I will weep when you are weeping
When you laugh I'll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through
When we sing to God in heaven
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony
Here are some recent pictures:
you and Grandpa Bill
your new baby pool
playing with your pal Caleb
