After Fritz, I learned that it isn’t wise to teach a baby new tricks. A first-time mom can’t wait for her baby to start solid food, sit-up, crawl, walk…

…then a first-time mom learns how sad it is that the child is developing so quickly and you can never go back to those sweet days of holding the baby all day long.

OK, holding a baby all day long is a pain, but from what I gather, once you’re out of that stage you look back with longing. I’ll let you know in another decade or so when I’m out of that stage, since I think I’ll be doing this f.o.r.e.v.e.r…….

So, beginning with Billy, I really didn’t encourage new development. I remember having everybody coo at Jenny, since she hadn’t started doing it and the docs thought she should be. That’s different. I remember trying to teach Fritz to crawl. He was about 9 months old and up on all fours, but going nowhere. I remember when he was a toddler trying to teach him to use a stool to climb on a chair, since he annoyed me so much asking to be helped up, then down, then up. Billy was pushing around on his belly by 6 months of age, and I had to hide the stools, since he would relocate them to climb up wherever, and then fall off.

But now, Child #5 has gotten several lessons on getting from his belly to a crawl position. He keeps scooting around, but then falling forward and landing on his tummy. Sometimes he would then roll to his back and complete the impression that he was a stuck bug kicking his feet and waving his arms and begging for rescue. This has been going on for weeks. I, the confident mom, was sure he would figure out what to do eventually. But he hadn’t and I was tired of coming to the rescue more and more as his desire to get around increased (and so his falling increased).

So, two days ago, I began to assist him in walking his arms back and pushing up. He’s needed very little help, just that beginning part where I put his hands on the ground and walk them back a few steps…he would immediately put his knees down and rock backwards.

And now, my older boys have just informed me that they witnessed him do it all by himself.

yikes.