The end of the world as we know it.

We knew this day was coming, and we were even excited about it. Although we were well aware of the huge life changes it would entail, we knew it would be a fun novelty and would eventually be good for everyone involved. Well, the time has come. Cameron is crawling.

He has been psuedo-crawling for quite some time--pivoting on his bum, rolling, getting on all fours and rocking back and forth. He was pretty mobile in an unconventional way, but we wanted him to reach the big milestone since he was so stinkin' close. We would encourage Cameron to get a toy just out of his reach, we would give his little bum a a nudge, to no avail. THEN...one day I heard a loud thump........thump. It was Cam, crawling in a very deliberate and slow fashion so his hands would make a loud thump on the carpet. I cheered and gave him positive feedback, to which he smiled back. That was the extent of his crawling for a few days...just a few thump thumps, but no real mileage.

Then he discovered that this thumping phenomenon of crawling could translate into more fun. The first distance trip was due to a garden hose. He saw it, a pretty white and green striped thing coiled in our courtyard, and he knew he had to chew on it. The next thing we knew he was thumping as fast as he could to the patio door to get at it. Luckily his thumping crawl was still manageable, since the courtyard is concrete and there is a little step to get to it, and if he would have made it the fun would have been over. We caught him, but now the word is out. Crawling is the passport to new adventure.

We will have to move a lot of things around, like the metal screen with flower photos in one of the photos above. Cam has now (he is more athletic than his mother) discovered he can "high step" crawl and get up the step to reach the flower screen, which is a hypnotically interesting toy. The screen would hurt him if it fell on him, so it will soon be making an appearance in a guest room near you.

He plays on the kitchen runner rugs while I am in the kitchen, and likes to lunge into the refrigerator (and dishwasher) as soon as it is open. I can't say I blame him...the appeal of Diet Dr. Pepper is strong.

My brave new step will be allowing him to crawl on the beach. Although he has accessed the floor and played with our shoes enough to have his digestive system tolerate sand, I am the one who can't stand the thought of him sucking on a sandy hand. I think I need to get over it, because worse things could happen, and I do need to prepare him for the many faceplants he will do in the sand when he is practicing walking. Oh boy...give me another few weeks at least!