Sitting up, solo

Sitting up might seem like an easy thing to do, but having watched a baby try to conquer this skill has made me rethink the simplicity of it. Rachel has been sitting up, unsupported, for quite a while now although she still occasionally loses her balance. I remember when she used to just collapse or fold over like a sandwich though.

Recently she has experimented with her falling and has gotten quite good at "falling with style" from a sitting position onto all fours without banging her head on anything. The really tricky thing for her, though, was getting back up to sitting again. She has been trying desperately for the last few days and finally succeeded today.

I was still sorting things in the living room and Rachel had climbed behind a big box. She was fine for a while but soon she began stressing out because she couldn't see me anymore. Apparently it didn't occur to her to crawl out from behind the box.

I tried to soothe her with my voice but she just kept crying and crying. Suddenly I saw her little head pop up from behind the box.

"Wow, you're pushing up so high!" I exclaimed, watching her little head in amazement. It didn't ever go back down. She kept her eye contact with me, while tears were streaming down her face, for quite a few minutes.

Now, I know that babies are really strong, but Rachel had never pulled off a feat quite like this before. The box was big enough for two or three of her to fit inside. Confused, I, myself, crawled around behind the box to see what she was up to.


She was sitting up behind the box, holding onto the rim for dear life, and, I think, trying to climb over the box to get to me. (Going around would have been so much easier).

"Andrew! Come see! She's sitting up!" I yelled, and Andrew came running.

She did it again when we put her down in her crib. So now she can roll over, sit up, and bear crawl all by herself. She just gets more and more mobile everyday...she's already starting to try and pull herself up on things and spends a lot of her time helping me learn how to babyproof things.

From what I hear, Andrew and I were both pretty docile and content children. I wonder where Rachel got all her spunk!