If It Isn't Bolted Down

Luke with his new found mobility, crawling and standing, is doing his best to kill himself.  Before he was mobile he was content to stay in a 5' radius and play with whatever was around him.  Now that he can move everything is fair game.  He will cross the room for a scrap of paper completely ignoring all of his and Alyce's toys.  Luke's favorite thing to play is the spring loaded door stops.  He likes to crawl over to them and bang them back and forth so they make a "twang" sound.  If he can find one of those springs he can keep himself entertained for a long while.  Other things he likes to get into is underneath his feeding table.  Luke crawls into the kitchen around a corner and gets under his highchair.  A seat belt strap hangs down and Luke likes to grab, pull, and eat it.  The most annoying thing Luke does when crawling around is to get into Jake's water bowl.  I'm not sure what the fascination Luke has with water but fascination he has.  Now a days we have to keep Jake's water off the floor all day just so Luke doesn't go into the kitchen looking for it.

Standing

On Monday night Luke for the very first time stood up on his own.  He's been supporting his weight for some time and even manged to stay vertical for a little bit without us having to hold him.  Monday, however, he transitioned from the floor to standing all on his own!

He's been working up to this for the last week since we've gotten out the climbing toy.  This toy was gifted to us by one of Mom's cousins.  When they gave it to us they said that this is what their daughter used to learn how to stand and eventually walk.  When Alyce was of age she used the toy to learn how to stand and walk and Luke is now using it learn how to stand.  The toy is really great for this because it has a wide base and isn't prone to tipping over, has lots of lights and sounds at the top to draw attention up, and has lots of hand hold to crawl up the side into a standing position.


I was very lucky on Monday because I was present to see his latest accomplishment.  It took a few tries but he crawled over to the toy and started the long trek up the side.  The first trouble spot was that even though his hands were the right height his feet weren't underneath him making him very wobbly.  He then proceeded to drag / step his feel into position under his body.  The entire process took long enough that Mom had time to make it into the room to witness.  Once he was up and stable he looked around, beaming with pride, and let out a happy coo.  He stayed there for a long time either enjoying the view, basking in the glory, or didn't know how to get back down.  His eventual dismount wasn't pretty but he didn't smack his head on the carpet so it was a landing he could walk away from.

Big Pull Up

This is how I found Luke this afternoon after his nap. I guess I better start pulling up the side of the crib. He's such a big boy now!