Wednesday, June 20, 2007

On the move...

Charlie has reached the point where he is constantly frustrated. He desperately wants to walk but can't quite pull it off. So, he cruises about until he gets "stuck." He reaches the end of one cruising item but can't reach his next destination and cries because he is now much too good for crawling. I have spent the last few days feeling little hands wrap themselves around my calves, loaning my hands and arms as suitable walking aids, and administering hugs and cuddles liberally as it all gets to be too much. I am waiting for walking with mixed feelings. I am hoping that it will offer a bit of reprieve of sorts, like when he started crawling. We had several weeks where I could use my computer, do dishes, etc, as he poked around. It will be nice to have a constantly frustrated, regularly wailing child but it is sure to be a challenge to have him even more mobile than before. His father and I are frantically babyproofing. Cabinets are getting anchored, clutter is getting cleared, china is being put up. We also bought a wire crate for Shirley to use in the family room. She was having a great deal of trouble with evading Charlie while also napping so, we're in the process of teaching her that her crate is a refuge. She's starting to get the idea but it can't happen soon enough for me.

Charlie is also developing quite the will. Never a child to go quietly into the night, he has taken it to new levels in the last week which don't bode well. Today there was a 5 minute screaming fit involving a red face and crocodile tears after he was cruelly interrupted in his pursuit of removing an outlet cover.

In cute news, Charlie has also started really making a go at consonants. In the last week my ears have been showered with "ma" and "ba" (although no da, which is supposed to come first- our little non-conformist- I'm so proud!). While "mama" has absolutely no meaning yet, it warms my heart every time I hear it and Charlie delights in hearing me echo "mama, that's me!" in a delighted tone.

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