Sitting Up

And then one day, everything changes forever.

The impact of the baby sitting up cannot be overstated. And not just because he’s been trying DESperately to do it for the past 2 months.

(” Uh, Paul, if he wants to sit up so bad why don’t you just… sit him up?”) No, i mean… STAY sitting up. You can prop him up but he just falls right over. See those photos we took awhile back of him holding the beer to see what i mean.

One day, almost exactly at the 6 month mark, he sits up and STAYS sitting up, and immediately things change REAL fast. It’s truly one of those milestone, like when he started smiling and laughing.

First, he is MUCH less frustrated. Lying on your back all day gets REALLY old. REALLY old. So you look for some bloody entertainment to take your mind off it. Like Daddy. Hey where IS Daddy anyway? Is he sitting down again? I better freak out get some action happening around here.

But with sitting up, suddenly everything’s… nicer. Cooler. Wow. The world looks kinda great from a sitting up position. Yeah. Awesome.

Second, he will play by HIMSELF now. I mean don’t start planning any vacations or trips to the movie theater quite yet, you’re lucky if you get 15 – 20 minutes at a time. But 10 – 15 minutes of self play is a BIG DEAL. You try entertaining a baby who is basically a paraplegic with ADD for 6 months straight and you’ll see how ********* glorious 10 – 15 minutes can be.

Third, after wanting nothing more in life then to sit up by himself for 2 months, as soon as he was able to, he promptly lost interest in it and began lunging forward out of a sitting position onto all fours. What makes this really noteworthy is that along with this comes: Rolling over this way and that way (he needs an entire double bed of playspace when he gets going. The boy can COVER ground), and straddling on all fours, rocking back and forth and basically preparing the way for crawling.

An example of the straddling is here:

Alongside all this, he suddenly hit ANOTHER growth spurt, and developed an even sharper look of… conscious presence. You know, being… present. Aware. Cognitive.

To wit:

Now, the disadvantages.

Diaper changing used to be a LOT easier. He lay there. You could leave and get a diaper, turn your back, whatever. Now he will not stay still to save his life. He used to HATE being on his stomach. Now, it’s like he figured out he can get little puff of crack every time he rolls on over to his tummy.

In order to turn your back on him, what with all this lunging forward and trying to crawl over everything, you have got to WALL him up. This crib/playpen that used to just be his nighttime crib… well, now the walled in nature of its playpen area is beginning to come in REAL handy. His days of freedom, of being exposed to open air all around him when Daddy had to turn his back of run out of the room is OVER.

WALLS.

This is how and why walls begin.

Sorry kid, it’s for your own good…