New skills – Part 3
Thursday, 7th August 2008 by Julie
Having just finished re-adjusting all baby-proofing for the extended arm-reach that sitting next to things gave him, I came into the lounge one morning, a day or two after he had started crawling, and found Jon kneeling at the coffee table. Oh dear.
The besieged items on the coffee table retreated further into their shrinking zone of safety.
Since then, kneeling is all the rage. It is done at every possible opportunity, and dragging on parental trousers to get into position is a big favourite.
Unfortunately, Jon has also discovered other things that can be used as hand holds.
Like cupboard handles.
And the amazing thing about that, is that with the right combination of pulling and dragging down, cupboards can be Opened to reveal all sorts of Fascinating New Toys! 
Cue the start of the search for handy widgets that stop our lovely kitchen cupboards being opened for baby curiosity.
Kneeling unsupported is still at a very early stage. And a wobbly, look-Ma-no-hands posture has been known to turn into an uncomfortable tumble forward or backward, often followed by some wailing if the surface that meets his head is not a soft one. (The poor little guy is currently sporting a dark bruise on his cheek as the result of one of of yesterday’s spills into a hard edge.)
It’s hard to predict whether standing will evolve naturally from kneeling, but it’s a dead certainty that walking will follow standing. I think at that time, the coffee table’s functionality will be restricted to after-Jon’s-bedtime hours.
In the meantime, I just think it’s great that our little guy has come so far on this wonderful, often painful, adventure of figuring out how it all works.
And I’m really glad that he gave us a whole year off first!
