Dashing Through The House

Jacob's EVERYWHERE these days. It's very rare to get him to sit and play or listen to a story for more than a minute or two at a time. He'll ask us to pick him up... but then he wants down immediately (and then back up again) or else to be passed from one person to another. Mama... Dada... Papa... Mama! If he stumbles or falls, he tries to catch himself and gets right back up. Every now and then, he might crawl for a second or two... but those times are getting very far and few between. I was playing around with him the other day crawling on the floor next to him and "making" him crawl, too... he thought that was hilarious. ;P

This house was NOT designed with babyproofing (baby gates) in mind, so there's really not a lot that we can do to confine him to just the living room. There's a very wide opening between the living room and dining room... no place for a baby gate. The entry to the kitchen finds the refrigerator on one side and cabinets on the other... no place for a baby gate. So, basically we're stuck with following him around from room to room all day long.

His therapist, Jenny, came for her final visit this week. She was pretty impressed with how mobile he is now and gave us some ideas of things to work on to increase his independence with his mobility - creating "ramps" next to walls for him to walk up, kicking and running, throwing balls into baskets (instead of just throwing random objects across the room at no spot in particular), and climbing stairs. It's amazing to think back and realize how little Jacob was when Jenny first started coming for sessions. He's gone from not even being able to roll onto or off of his tummy to crawling and pulling himself up to toddling all over the place. Ms. Jenny's been such a great help and has always been very supportive and reassuring. She helped transform us from nervous, overprotective parents to confident supporters and cheerleaders of our son's progress. I'm sure that Jacob would have gotten to this point eventually, but I'm confident that he's gotten there (here!) much quicker with all of her suggestions and pointers.

I picked up a potted flower (white mums) for her and wrote on the planter card... "Thank you for helping me grow. Love, JACOB". She told us she had some gardening to do this weekend and would have to find a good spot for it. She said she'd call it her Jacob flower. We're sad to see Ms. Jenny go, but it's a good thing. Jacob really developed an attachment to her and lit up every time she came. Whenever she worked with him and he made a little frustrated noise or let out a cry, she would say, "I knoooooow!" Between therapy sessions, I would imitate this and Jacob would look up and grin - sometimes looking towards the door, sometimes trying to imitate the words/inflection himself. So cute. I'm sure he'll probably forget her eventually, but she really made an impression on him for the time being.

He's getting steadier on his feet outside both with and without shoes. Of course, he still falls down here and there, so we're pretty much always right next to him if he's not on the grass in the middle of the yard. I'm trying to give him a little more space to do his own thing, but I'm not in any rush to see his little body all scraped up by the cement... or to have to make a mad dash to the E.R. I'm sure all of that will come soon enough.



First TRUE crawling "steps" (up on all fours, alternating knees to move forward) - late November

First independent walking steps - late March/early April