Mobility Month

Lola evidently designated this month as Mobility Month. She's on a mission. And that mission is ... to MOVE. She started warming up last month, graduating from rolling to writhing around (she'd find herself in some very interesting positions trying to go from lying to sitting). She was also testing her standing (without support) capabilities. She would pull herself up to a stand on something -- shelves, a chair, her crib, whatever -- and she'd wait for me to look. Then she'd let go and stand on her own. Sometimes for 15 or 20 seconds. She probably could have gone longer a few times but my "yea!!!!! Lola!!!!!" startled her. But I guess she got the reaction she was looking for because she's now advanced to other moves.

For months now, as Locke learned to stand and crawl and climb, Lola has been content to sit and watch and laugh. But no more. Maybe she'd had enough of Locke taking her toys away and then abandoning them just out of her reach. Or maybe she wanted to me to chase after HER for a change, yelling, "No, Locke, we don't climb the stairs without Mommy." I'm not sure what motivated her, but already this month she's learned some of her most impressive new skills.

This weekend she decided to crawl. REALLY crawl. Oh, she'd dabbled in the crawl thing weeks earlier, when she'd sort of lean forward from a seated position, raising momentarily up on her knees, and then taking one crawl step before pushing up into her downward dog yoga pose. But this weekend, she decided she really wanted the plastic rattling hippo she'd been playing with earlier and was now several yards from her. Now she's all over the place. Oh, it's not pretty. She looks sort of like she just hatched out of an egg and is awkwardly making her way to the sea, but she definitely manages to get around.

And now, when she's not crawling, she's insisting on walking -- with my help, of course. She'll grab my hands, pull up to standing, and start marching, fully expecting me to walk with her back and forth and around the room (which, of course, I do). And if I'm not available to walk with her, she'll pull up on a chair and walk from chair to shelf to swing to chair. And her favorite thing to do while standing or walking is to bend down and pick up a toy and return to her upright position. This gives her much pleasure.

Locke, in the meantime, has noticed this increased activity. Until now, he hasn't shown much interest in walking -- probably because he crawls faster than many people can walk. But now that his sister is getting a leg up (so to speak), his interest is peaking. A few times, when Lola has been walking, leading me around the living room, Locke has come up and demonstrated his standing ability. Hmm, looks like the race is on.