10/11/12

Pull-ups, Cruising and Head Banging.

Oliver is desperately trying to give me and FTD a heart attack.   I thought the crawling and headbutting everything was bad.  Nope, I was so wrong.  Nothing matches the hell of learning to stand, cruise and walk.

This is the vicious cycle Ollie keeps playing out.

1. crawl as fast as possible to the corner of the coffee.
2. pull-up to a standing position.
3. let go with one hand.
4. swing free hand around like a rodeo cowboy.
5. Fly backwards landing on head 50% of the time, Butt the other 50%
6. Scream and cry.
7. Repeat.

At first I followed him around, prying his death grip from the coffee table and re directing him to a toy.  Well, now I'm tired and he needs to learn.  So, I let him go through this cycle until finally he wears himself down, usually after 20-minutes of this ridiculousness.

So, what to FTD and I do thinking it will save us from a trip to the ER with a busted head from the coffee table?  We buy him one of those Sit-to-Stand learn to walk toys.  My friends, don't do this as quickly as we did. Ollie is not ready for it.  He has pulled the thing down on him more times than I care to admit to.  We have to play with him when he plays with it. The problem is that he needs some sort of sturdy prop to help him stand up.  His legs are just not strong enough yet.  If said prop weighs less than him, he pulls it down on himself. (Photos Below)


Moving on to Plan B....

In an effort too continue to nurture his need to stand up I pushed to coffee table way away from the couch to let him use the couch as his new "cruising" spot. Which, for those of you who do not know, 'Cruising' is when a baby pulls himself up to the standing position and then walks a few steps holding onto whatever he pulled up on.

Side Note:  I had no idea what Ollie was doing was called "Cruising" until my girlfriend asked me if Ollie was cruising yet.  I asked if she meant for chicks?  I had no idea there was a term for it.

Oliver can now walk from one end of the couch by holding on while he walks.  I drive his favorite car down in front of him and he chases it.  I really am so proud of him.  However, I'm freaking out about how mobile he is at 8-months-old.

For all of you moms reading this thinking, I wish my baby was standing or cruising, be careful what you wish for! Oliver is a terror on two feet!  He wants to pull up on everything including the dining table chairs, the floor lamp and even FTD's surround sound speaker stands.  No matter how much you think you have baby proofed your house, there is more to be done!  Anything on the floor is fair game, the TV stand freaks me out the most. I told FTD we need to mount the TV.   The problem is that you cannot mount chairs, and furniture.

So far this stage of learning to walk has been as rewarding as tiring.  Oliver will not even sit in his exersaucer now.  He has to be free to roam and cause havoc. Gone are the days of taking my eyes off of him for more than 10 seconds. Don't get me wrong, I am so proud of him for reaching these milestones so early. However, it comes at a price, my sanity.  Just you wait, for those of you waiting for a walker, you will be checking into the loony bin with me and FTD in no time...







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Two confused parents=One amused baby Hopelessly we are trying raise a baby who is clearly smarter than both of us. April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com

11 comments:

Claire said...

As you know we are going through the same amber started cruising at just over 6mths shes 7.5mths now. At first she was happy staying in the living room like there was an invisible barrier at the door. But in the last month her favourite trick is to try and exscape, once out of the door she has two routes left takes her to the kitchen where she likes to pull herself up using the oven door handle or the ironing board, so we now have to keep the kitchen door closed, if she chooses to turn right this leads her to the stair, twice I've found her half way up the stairs. I remember when Sam went throught this stage saying I saw more tired than when her was a new born. Knowing 2 ladies that had babies within 4 days of me having amber, and there babies still stay in one spot, I'm so jealous!!!!

Unknown said...

haha! This is where the chasing begins... hello white hairs!

Katie said...

I still can't believe how mobile he is! William has finally just started to push himself backwards, and kind of turn in circles. But he doesn't do it on purpose. He is doing it out of frustration because I haven't picked him up yet. :)

Unknown said...

I'm telling you as soon as they outgrow one rough stage a new one takes it place. Hospitals should just hand out helmets at birth. He is so cute. I bet he cruises for chicks at the grocery store all the time. He looks like a chick magnet!

FirstTimeMomandDad.com said...

As much as I want an 'advanced' kid, I'm not too sure I am loving how quickly he is advancing through sit to stand and walk...

FirstTimeMomandDad.com said...

ugh, no kidding!

FirstTimeMomandDad.com said...

Don't worry. I think William is still on track. Ollie is just trying to prepare me for just how crazy he is going to be as a son in general.

FirstTimeMomandDad.com said...

I must admit, you would think Ollie was a celebrity in the grocery. We cannot get down one aisle without getting some sort of comment. It doesn;t help that he is usually squealing and smiling. FTD carries him and plays with him the whole time.

Things That Happen Everyday said...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002VBXY40/ref=nosim/cherishedmome-20
You should get him one of these. I LOVED it for my two kids. Its a walker but he can't move around the house so you don't have to worry about him hurting himself and also not worry that you don't have enough space. It just goes in circles and it has an activity center table with many things for him to play on. My kids loved it. Also when he's older and can walk on his own you can take the seat off and he can just play with the activity table. In case the link doesn't work its called Bright Stars Around We Go Activity Station (you can google it). Hope this helps.

FirstTimeMomandDad.com said...

I've seen these. Thanks for the testimonial. I'm going to try once upon a child first, if that fails then I will go to babies r us and put him in one and see what he thinks. We have carpet. (UGH) I hope that won't matter?

Things That Happen Everyday said...

Glad I could help. I won't matter that you have carpets. I had carpets with both of the boys and it didn't matter.