Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

The age range in Rory’s classroom at daycare spans from 7-8 months to 18/24 months. I think the oldest are closer to 12 months at the moment.  Regardless, there is quite a range of physical development between and among his classmates.

Now that Rory is crawling very well, his teachers have begun to notice an increased sense of awareness of the other kids’ ability to move about the room freely. When the door opens to head to snack time or to get into the stroller to head outside, Rory watches longingly and crawls behind as fast as he can, as if to say “wait for me, guys!!” Likewise, when he is on the playground, he stares intently at the big kids on the slide and other equipment and giggles emphatically.  He really seems to be wondering when he might be able to join in the fun. I have witnessed this first-hand the handful of times I’ve picked him up lately and am always somewhat amused at the sight.

I am pleased to see Rory have such a focus on gross motor development and hope that he continues to maintain his generally pleasant demeanor about it all (as opposed to getting cranky because he can’t keep up). We are thrilled to see him taking in his surroundings so deliberately. Though we hope he doesn’t catch on TOO quickly.  At least not before we can get some more baby gates installed.

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Rory has started scooting across the floor this week. But he hasn’t done it by army crawl, normal crawl, or anything really resembling a crawl at all. Instead, he has started scooting across the floor in a seated position. He’ll occasionally lean forward, as though he is going to put his hands down and crawl. But more often, he bounces across the floor by stretching out his legs in a seated position and then pulling them back in to propel his body forward. It looks as awkward as it sounds, but it gets him where he is trying to go.

True to form, Rory’s newfound mobility has been causing trouble at bedtime. When he is in his crib trying to fall asleep at night, he’s capable of getting up on his hands and knees. He pushes up, wobbles from side to side, collapses back down, and then tries it all again. It’s fascinating to watch on his video monitor. He’s been doing it off and on for a couple weeks now. However, this week was the first we’d seen any consistent movement outside of the comfort of his crib.

I’m hoping that the scooting gives way to a more “traditional” crawl soon, because I have also seen him start trying to pull up –whether it be on a nearby toy, pillow, or even mommy’s leg. I know I don’t get to control whether he crawls or walks first, but I’d be very thankful if he went the more conventional route. Luckily for us, whichever route he chooses, he at least appears to be in the early stages of mobility. So perhaps we’ll have at least one relatively calm weekend left before the baby-proofing begins in earnest.