On the move!

It's been months where Caleb would be sitting and then he'd lean forward as if he was going to crawl but then his rocking force would go too far forward and he would just plop on his belly.  Being that for awhile he did not like being on his tummy this made him a very unhappy camper.  He would instantly cry and then quickly remember that he could roll over onto his back.  This would suffice for about 20 seconds if something was in grabbing distance to play with.  If not, well then being on his back was about as exciting as being on his tummy.  He loved either sitting or standing with support of course.  Well last Sunday, Dave and I were in the living room, Caleb was playing on the floor and we noticed that all of a sudden he was pulling himself up onto the entertainment center.  He's been able to pull himself up for a few weeks now so that wasn't surprising but we were curious as to how he made his way over there.  So we pulled him back to the little play area and next thing you know he was CRAWLING!

Pre-crawling I would see kids younger than him crawling and I would get a bit jealous or wonder if I was doing everything right.  Then I reminded myself NOT to play the comparison game because children really do develop different things at different rates.  As a mom it's so easy to compare because you truly want the best for your children and when I was doing just that, comparing, a friend sent me this at work "Whether I do perfectly well or horribly badly as a parent -- or, most likely, something in between -- I will remain his one and only chance at feeling he can rely on, be soothed by, be unconditionally loved by his mother".  I loved this because my focus of trying to be a perfect mom switched to LOVE.  1Corinthians13:13 doesn't say "...and the greatest of these is a perfect mom", no it says "...and the greatest of these is love".  So to all the mom's out there, comparing is a no no and you're doing way more amazing that you probably think you are!

Ok back to "on the move".  So like I said he's crawling all over the place.  It's as if he has a new found freedom!  I'm not kidding he's literally like a kid in a candy shop.  He's curious about everything and happy all the time because he's not bound to one location anymore.  It's so much fun to watch him do the sequence you see below.  He does this about 100 times a day.

He will even pull himself up and then sit back down and pull himself up and then sit back down and then pull himself up and then sit back down...ok I think you get the point.  While doing this he will look over at me and I imagine those sweet little gurgles/grunts/noises he makes are him saying "Look what I can do mom.  Caleb is my name and climbing is my game."

Along with this new freedom comes a few funny bedtime stories.  So the other night Dave put Caleb down to sleep.  I was on the computer and all of a sudden I heard light banging coming from Caleb's room.  I grabbed Dave and we went to peek at him.  He was standing in his crib, which was also a first for him.  He must have heard us slide the door open because he turned his head around, spotted Dave and got the biggest smile on his face.  It was so cute, but of course I laid him back down so he could go to sleep.  Again, a couple minutes later, I could hear noises from his room but I just let him be.  About 20 minutes later I noticed I hadn't heard anything for awhile so I went in to check on him.  This was by far the funniest thing I've ever seen him do and I SO wish I would've grabbed my camera to snap a picture.  He must have lowered himself into a sitting position but then realized he didn't know how to get into a laying position because his legs were straight out, his body was completely bent in half with his head face down on the mattress and his arms stretched out as if he was stretching out his hammies before a basketball game.

The next night same thing only this time he learned how to turn on his little sea sound soother which he loves to turn on and then off and then on and then back off again.  He apparently likes repetition.  So needless to say, climbing in the crib is a daily habit but such a fun first because it's OH. SO. CUTE.  He makes Dave and I smile all the time!