Crawling (Almost)

Emerald is in that almost-crawling phase.  Any minute we expect her to take off and begin her reign of terror in the Edgington house, wreaking havoc and rooting out any and all choking hazards, electrical outlets, household cleaners, and leaving a path of destruction behind her.  The kids are especially concerned about how they will keep her out of their room.  We’ve considered different ways to restrain her.  Baby gates maybe?  Confinement to high chairs, baby beds, exersaucers, strollers?  And, then of course there’s always Baby Jail.

But, you know what?  As much as we are sort of dreading seeing what kind of messes she will get into when she goes mobile, we are doing everything we can to teach her how to crawl. The kids crawl around on the floor, saying, “See, Emerald? This is all you have to do!” When she gets up on her hands and knees and starts rocking like she’s about to take off, we cheer, “You can do it, Emerald!”  Chad even gets on the floor with her and moves her legs in a crawling motion so she can see what it should feel like.  Isn’t it funny?  We want to see her succeed even though it could mean trouble for us.  Because seeing her progress makes us happy.  We know that if she doesn’t finally get those chunky thighs underneath her and get set to crawl, then eventually she will be left behind.  Other babies will crawl and then walk and then run, and since we want her to run someday, we want her to crawl now.

Watching her try and try again is encouraging.  It reminds me that it’s okay if I am just in that almost-crawling stage when I sew or try to cook or make parenting decisions or learn to get three kids ready to go places.  Because once I master the crawl, walking will come next.  And, someday, running!

Yes, I am learning.  I’ve got my chunky thighs under me.  For now, that’s enough.