Growing Up...Some Random Thoughts

Simon's growing so quickly!  He's seven months old now, and crawling pretty well.  He has the cutest little crawl.

 He gets up on all fours and rocks, looking like he's going to really have a nice form.  And then he gets impatient, drops his chest to the ground and army crawls to where he wants to go.  He also uses his knees at times to propel himself--kind of like a frog jump thing. 

It's neat to watch how quickly little ones learn, and how all of their skills really work together.  How everyone kind of develops in their own way.  None of our kids have crawled the same at first.  They all eventually end up in a traditional, four point crawl.  But they each took a different route to get there.

Owen's developmental delays have really taught us to be aware of how many steps there are in eating, sitting, crawling, walking...all of the things that we always took for granted before.

When you have to break down a skill like that and practice each individual component, you realize just how complicated some of these "easy" things are.  Before you can crawl, you have to have balance.  You have to have strength.  You have to have coordination.  Your brain has to be able to tell different parts of your body to move.  Your body has to respond. 

First one leg, than the other. You have to alternate hands and legs.  Not run into anything.  Be aware of your surroundings.

And more!

So when a baby just picks it up without being taught, it reminds us of what an amazing God we serve.  So many skills.  So many steps.  And babies normally just figure it out.  Without being taught.  And they can pick it up in so many different ways. 

Then suddenly, without warning, crawling turns into this...

Pulling up.  Which will, before we know it, turn into standing.  And then walking.  And then running. 

They grow up so quickly!  Remember to slow down and enjoy the progress.  The little steps to mastery that are so easy to take for granted.  Be thankful when they learn new skills. And don't ever wish that they'd stay this way forever.  Trust me.  Growth is good! Celebrate it.  And get an extra snuggle in today, because they are growing fast.