Now on to Sophia and the latest antics of the little princess. Two nights ago she was getting into a drawer that she knows that it is off limits, but she insists on pushing those limits and seeing what she can get away with. I have no idea, nor does Margaret, on where she has developed this defiant streak. Anyhow, she has pushed the limits and has acquired the turkey baster and is chewing on the bulb end. She has been told "No" several times but continued along with her escapade. She is now walking and chewing on the bulb, not thinking about what she is doing. Sophia first takes three steps, then four, five, six , seven, still chewing on the turkey baster. The next thing we know is that she has walked all the way from the "no-no" drawer in the kitchen into the front room and to the book case without balancing herself on anything. She has taken at least 15 steps on her own, all because she is not thinking about what she is doing. Bothe Margaret and I are exchanging stares and then looking at Sophia with our mouths open wide in amazement. Sophia has taken several steps in a row on her own before, but thiswas the longest that she has walked on her own without grabbing at something for support. Time to batten down the hatches, she is on her own and it is just a few weeks away from taking more and more steps on her own and getting into more and more things. It is funny how parents, at least first time parents, are so anxious for their child to become mobile, first crawling, then walking, then running - only to then realize that they are pushing for more and more work and what to baby-proof in the house so that the more mobile carpet critter remains safe.
Carpet critters is just the next stage or kids in my book. Kids start out as infants, moving to rug rats, then carpet critters, then yard apes, and finally onto gutter snipes. Infants just lay there,they don't roll over or anything. Safe to leave them alone on the floor for a few minutes. Rug rats roll around and semi crawl. They are not safe to be left alone for more than a few seconds. Carpet critters are full crawlers to "scooters" where they will stand and hold onto things to move around the room. They are in this stage for several months until they are walking on their own without any assistance. At this point nthey become yard apes. They will walk around the house sometimes shakeily, sometimes walking fast. They are safe to takeoutside at this point and walk around the back yard while you do gardening, as long as you don't have domesticated animals that the child can get into the animal droppings. Once they start hanging with friends in the neighborhood, they become gutter snipes. This is when you need to make sure they stay out of the road, learn about the dangers of cars, and the importance of checking in with mom and/or dad on occassion so that their whereabouts are well known. They remain in the gutter snipe roll until they are pre-teens which is a long way down the road. Once they are full fledged teens, the next step, you just hope that everything you have taught them from rolling over until now has stuck. Kids are a great joy to have and you should take time to enjoy each stage, and not be in such a hurry for them to make it to the next stage. The time flies too quickly. I currently have one that is an adult (19), one who is a pre-teen (10) and one who is a Carpet Critter (15 Months). It seems like just yesterday that the pre-teen was a yard ape or a carpet critter. Time flies too fast as a parent and if someone finds an unpainful way to make it last longer and it will be better than finding the fountain of youth. Enjoy your time with your kids while you can. The next thing you know you will be a grandparent.
