1 Mother 2 Another

A couple days ago I was cooking in the
kitchen with Cora playing around my feet. I stepped away for a few
moments to get something out of the pantry and came back around the
corner to a sight most every Mommy dreads at this age –


A baby, on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth.

You mommies with older babies or toddlers
know what I’m talking about – the warning sign that
your sweet, stationary baby is about to become (gulp) mobile.


Cora’s been incredibly active physically for a while –
she will roll across a room in seconds flat. But she’d just
gotten used to sitting; it took her a while to get the whole
tripod-with-your-arms thing. And she still doesn’t really
know how to get herself to sitting from lying down. Oh,
she’ll occasionally heave herself up in one massive crunch
from lying down to sitting, but she hasn’t yet figured out to
roll onto her side and push herself up to sitting from there. And
while she loves being on her tummy and reaching for objects, her
legs still scrabble ineffectively in the air. So I figured I was
safe.


I neglected to take one warning sign into account, though –
the belly rocking. Cora will get into her beloved belly-down
position, push herself up on her arms, then dive forward towards
the floor, legs flying up in the air, like a rocking horse. She
loves this and will do it over and over, a classic sign of babies
figuring out pivot points and how to move. And about a week ago she
began using her belly as a pivot point, spinning around in circles
on her tummy to grasp a bigger assortment of toys.


So I should have realized it was only a matter of time before she
realized that she could lift that belly up off the floor and do
some real damage. Thus far I’ve only caught her in this
compromising position a few times, each one with her grinning
outrageously. But she’s really experimenting with being on
her knees and I know it’s only a matter of time before she
figures those knees can take her places.


Only a few more weeks before we move, so I’m hoping she holds
out until then; this box-filled apartment is anything but
baby-proofed. Slow down, girlie!