one small step
Figuratively, anyway.
Cole is crawling. Purposefully, methodically, shifting his weight from one hand and one knee to the other, occasionally stopping to sit back and survey his progress. I know it's a common trope to use this kind of thing as a regret-tinged metaphor for growing up, but (and I'm sure I've said this before), what I feel is mostly an incredible sense of relief that he's passed one more milestone.
I realize that it's a little on the early side for crawling, but I also realize that the whole thing is essentially meaningless since, especially in these days of back-to-sleep, many babies skip crawling altogether. Which reminds me of my friend Saskia, who walked late and talked early,* and when her parents tried to persuade her to stand up and take a few steps, she'd look up at them, shake her head and point out, "I fall down."
When did you (or your child/ren, if relevant) start sitting, crawling, walking, talking?
*And who, to no one's surprise, grew up to be an exceptionally talented lawyer.
31 comments:
Wow! He's what, 6 months old? This means he's already sitting, and, as I see, holding his bottle! He's a fine gentleman!
Cole is so beautiful.
Baby Man who is now almost 19 months, I believe, started crawling at 8-9 months. We were living in a crappy tiny one-bedroom uncomfortable wood floor apartment before then. When we moved to the spacious two-bedroom, he just took off. Started walking about 13 months, talking, well, that depends on your definition. Perhaps 15 months, perhaps not yet.
I was the first child, and I was a late talker - my mother thought I was retarded. But when I spoke, I spoke in paragraphs. I was just waiting until I could do it well.
I am so with you on cheering the milestones. I was not into the immobile lump thing. Neither was Zo. She was army crawling at high speed all around the house by 6 months but didn't get up on her hands and knees until closer to 8 months, which is also when she finally sat up on her own. Girl is still not into sitting.
Love the story about your friend :)And I totally get what you're saying about milestones, even though I've obviously never been in your shoes. Still - how exciting!
My daughter is 7 months and on the verge of crawling. I never crawled, just went straight to walking.
I had to stop and think about this ...
20-yo walked at 11 months, talked at 13 months (he had meningitis at 2 months, had a profound hearing loss as a result, and did not recover his hearing until he was twelve months old).
9-yo talked at 6 months (a tad unnerving, but fun) and walked at 14 months. (She's the way scary/smart one).
7-yo walked at talked at 18 months -- not until he had the ear tubes put in, at which point, within four weeks, he was running and had a vocabulary of 200 words. Ditto on the unnerving, but somewhat bemusing.
I do believe they all sat at 5 months, and crawled between 6 and 8 months.
Honestly, pregnancy and the first year are just too scary for me, what with my mid-pregnancy losses, my daughter dying of SIDS, my son nearly dying of meningitis and then taking nearly a year to fully recover. I love and celebrate and am tremendously relieved to pass the first-year milestones.
Already 6 months old....wow.
And crawling...you better get ready!!
My kids were all over the 'milestone map'..
J--sat up @ 5 months, crawled @6, walked @9 months and hasn't slowed down in the susequent 11 years that followed that 1st year.:)
M--sat up at 7 months, crawled at 10, walked at 14..was very laid back and not in a big rush, still that way today.:)
Jo--sat up at 6 months, crawled at 8, walked at 12 (exactly to the day)
S--sat up at 8 months, never really crawled, she pulled her body along with one leg, dragging the other, in an upright position ( i know, hard to picture), walked at 18 months. Talked VERY early. Got up and walked the day after every one of her teachers stood around her and spoke of having her evaluated, to which I scoffed in her defense. She showed them...ha. :)
Congrats to baby Cole!!
You know what they say (at least in the American South) that "a baby starts crawling to get out of the way for a sibling."
Cate started crawling at 6 or 7 months? She is 10 months and *almost walking."
xoxo
Christina: I'd never heard that expression before. Since our transfer is in (gulp) less than two weeks, I'm crossing my fingers that it applies in our case.
Maybe I should admit this in your anonymous confessions, but I don't really remember the specific ages when each of them learned to walk. My oldest learned to walk in the preschool class I was teaching at the time, so she must have been 10 months old and she was alread speaking fluently by then. My middle daughter took longer on everything and was over a year before she started walking or talking. And my youngest was probably around 11 months when she started walking. I honestly can't remember when she started talking. That's really sad. I should probably make up a story about her first words so I'll have something to tell her when she asks me about it someday. I think I should be getting a lot more sleep. :)
Your little Cole is charming.
Lyra crawled at 7 months, following six weeks of frustrated screaming at her inability to move the way she wanted (we ignored the back-to-sleep advice, btw). She took her first steps at 11-months 2 days. She said about 6 words and gestured from 10 to 20 months. Then, she decided to make up for lost time and at 24 months is a non-stop flood of conversation.
From what I'm told, I began walking at 11 months. But then my family moved overseas when my dad was stationed in Italy and I quit walking and didn't even attempt it again until I was 16-months old.
How lovely. What a beautiful photograph. I love the fact that he is gripping so strongly on the end of the bottle.
J is nearly 11 months (7 months corrected) and she isn't crawling yet. Just rolling. She likes to stand up and can just about manage to do so, leaning against the sofa. Perhaps she will skip crawling?
I feel a strange mixture of relief and regret when J passes a milestone. Relief that she can do what I always worry that she might never manage. I spent so much time longing for her to grow bigger, it feels too strange to wish her less capable or smaller.
My kids have all been early walkers...9.5 months, 10.5 months, and 8 months. I had one who didn't figure out the rolling over thing until after he walked. And, I had one who talked (Da sa wuf...dog say woof) at 10 months. We've been all over the place.
I still feel detached. A piece of me can't love him because I still carry a sense of impending loss with me. As each month passes he gains weight, height, skill and I loosen my grip on that reserve. It is incremental.
-Shamela
Milestones are good things. My mom tells me I was singing before I was talking, but I wasn't in a hurry to walk, unlike my little brother who was one of those "put me down so I can go, go, go!" babies.
My grandmother insists that my mother talked at 6 months, in particular asking for da boob. I am told I walked at 10.5. I know my sister walked at 9.5-- I watched that happen, and we have pictures of the first steps-- she was walking to get at the camera of a family friend who was taking pictures of her. Monkey appeared ready to walk around 8.5. My sister asked her what she thought she was doing attempting to break the family record. Monkey put off that part for a month, until she matched my sister (we have video of it too-- JD was just filming her playing a game of her own invention, and she turns around and walks towards me, carrying the thing she was playing with). Kinda funny. She was a very early crawler, though, right around the 6 months (within a day or two), and an early stair climber. Resulting in me being a bit disoriented with the Cub, who is getting to these things at his own damn pace, thank you very much. And he's bigger/heavier than she was. So he looks different to me, like I've never had a baby this age before. He's a motor crawler, though he didn't get that way until around 9 months or so. Before that he bounced on his butt-- I didn't think it was possible, but he covered great distances, and was hilarious at it, for bonus points. Now he loves to walk holding someone by fingers, and looks like he might decide to go on his own soon. He's saying a few words, not consistently, but with intent. And he's understanding a lot more. It's great fun.
Yay for crawling Cole!
And gl on the transfer... (I've never heard that expression of Christina's either, btw)
My son was early on everything, very much to my surprise. He rolled over for the first time at 4 weeks, crawled just shy of 5 months, sat up on his own at 6 months, first steps at 10 months. He didn't really walk places though until a year, just a few steps here and there. His first words were at 9 months, and now at 19 months he is talking better than many 2 year olds.
We figure our next child won't do anything until he/she is 3 just to help average things out.
Hmm sitting I cant remember for either of them so I assume it was bang on when the books said as I recall no worrying. Crawling about 7 months for both. Walking on their first birthdays thereabouts for both. Talking - girl about 1, boy a lot later before we had much at all but he made up for it with complete sentences.
Claire was a LATE talker (3 years old - intelligible) who needed some intervention to be understood. So, when Caroline started talking at 18-20 months I was blown away! Cognitively I knew that was the 'way it was supposed to be' based on my early-ed background, but it still knocked me for a loop!!
Claire was signing at 9mo thought -- and more than able to get her needs communicated!
I must have crawled early, because I walked at 9 months, before depth perception, with all the face bruises to prove it. I grew up with Calamity Jane as my knickname.
No mythical Karen talking stories. I was earlier than both my more introverted sisters, but that's about that.
All my kids did funky versions of crawling. To a boy, the each cross-crawled after cruising or walking (must be that back to sleep). Henry did not walk til 15 month, one wet sand where he could sink in a bit. Looking back, given all I know about Sensory Processing Disorder, Proprioception, and Muscle Tone - well, it all adds up in the rear view mirror.
My oldest son was the crazy talker, forming short sentences like "I did it!" before age one as he pulled himself up on standing lamps, chewing power cords along the way.
glad another milestone has hit you! make cake!
He's so gorgeous. I remember the bottle holding. Felt like I had won a contest. :)
Viv walked around 14 months, Rosalyn on her first birthday exactly. Neither really crawled, not even Ros who would only sleep on her belly. Scooched and dragged occasionally, but otherwise waited for their personal valet. :)
Viv said her first word at 10 months (doggie!) and was using full sentences by 18 months. Not a blessing-she hasn't shut up since. Ros on the other hand is still incomprehensible some days, and only started speaking in something other than gibberish around 2-2.5. Freaked me out for awhile.
I can't get over how cute he is. Ovaries are aworken now. Thanks man. :P
For some things I don't remember exactly nor did I write it down in one of those books that some moms have, but I knew I would never keep that up. And I thought I would remember such milestones always. Um, yeah.
My 5 year old son crawled at 8 months and walked at 13.5. He was an early talker. He doesn't sound like a 5 year old. His doctors have described him as "precocious, but in a good way" and as talking more like an 8 or 9 year old. Clear diction, very good vocabulary. Great storyteller. He's a hoot.
My 12 month old daughter started crawling between 9-10 months. Over the weekend she discovered that she can walk when she's holding onto mommy or daddy's fingers. She loves it. So maybe another month or two before "real" walking. She has "conversations" using the words "mama" and "dada" a lot, but not really saying any other words (perhaps "ba ba" for bottle). But she's trying... I can feel that language explosion coming.
I'll take all the milestones I can get.
My daughter crawled at around 8-9 months. She started "talking" at about 4 months - 20 minute long cooing sessions. She's almost 3 now, and talks ALL THE TIME. She walked just after 12 months. Milestones...
Is he really six months old already? Seems like he was only born last week. To me, anyway. ;)
Isaac: never crawled. walked at nine months. didn't start speaking until 18 months, when it was in complete sentences.
James: crawled continually from about seven / eight months onward. didn't walk until 13 months. is 15 months now, says about five words. however, he's already thrown his first floor-pounding foot-kicking ultrasonic screaming tantrum. so, he's clearly advanced. :)
Such a gorgeous little man.
I have no idea when I started talking, and I don't think Mom does either, except to say that I said "No" a lot, but depending on the inflection, that "No" could mean a variety of things. I do know that I didn't start walking until I was about 15 months old. Mom was a little concerned about that, but quickly got over when the doctor simply said, "She has four older sisters and two parents who carry her everywhere, of course she hasn't started walking."
And thus began my reign as the Princess Baby.
crawling already??? It is hard to believe that he is already mobile! Lauren didn't crawl at all. She just up and walked one day at about 11 months. Allison crawled at about 8 months, but didn't walk until she was about 13 months. I figured she would walk sooner to keep up with Lauren. However, as my children continue to teach me, I don't know anything about how my kids are going to behave!
sitting - 6 months
crawling - 8 months
talking - about the same time (simple words like ball and bird and CAT, which was her first word)
walking 13 months
WOW!!!!!! go Cole! he is clearly brilliant (& has places to go!)
totally loving all of these comments
I walked at 14 months but was an early talker. My husband walked at 7 months but was a late talker. Our first son, who looks like me, walked at 13 months, but didn't really get going for another couple of weeks. But he is a great talker, especially for a boy. So let's say that my genes won that round.
I think that child #2, however, is going to be an early crawler -- maybe not as early as Cole, but earlier than son #1. He looks more like my husband, too. Maybe we each got a Mini-Me.
T has been babbling for months but didn't crawl until quite late - he was nearly a year and starting walking a couple of months later.
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