Getting better at walking

Things are getting busy around here as I prepare to teach classes this summer, and will only get busier when classes start next week. I'm going to try to post at least once a week this summer, more if I can help it.

Carter is getting better and better at walking. He almost doesn't crawl any more; he'll occasionally crawl over to something to pull up, and then continue walking, but that's about it. He can stand up in the middle of the floor not holding on to anything, and is doing it more and more frequently. He can also bend over and pick up something from the floor, and then stand up again. He's picking up speed when he walks, and can stop, turn, stand for a while, and so on. It's interesting to watch him get better and better!

Here's a little video I took of him today that gives an idea of how his walking is coming along.



That was at the Austin Children's Museum. We had a lot of fun, and I think we'll start going every week. There were lots of kids there -- it was actually pretty crazy! But it's good for him to get a chance to play with other kids his age.





Starting next week I'll be working in the afternoons and spending mornings with him. We have swimming lessons on Monday mornings, Gymboree on Wednesday mornings, and I'm thinking we'll go to the Children's Museum on Friday mornings. That leaves Tuesday and Thursday mornings to play here at home. This is going to be a big change for me. I haven't worked five days a week since he was born! But they're paying me well, and it's only for 6 weeks. Those of you who work full-time are rolling your eyes now, but this is a lot of time to be away from him for me. :-/

Swimming lessons are going well! It's fun to get new ideas for things we can do in the water. They do stations during the lesson, where each baby spends about a minute doing a different activity before rotating to the next, like blowing bubbles, "jumping" in, pouring water from cups, picking up diving rings submerged on the steps, etc. All the activities are things that are intended to get the babies enjoying playing in the water. Unfortunately, Carter's attention span is a lot longer than a minute, so when it's time to change stations, he's just getting into the activity and is very unhappy when we have to move on. I think he'll get used to it, heh. Or maybe we'll see if we can find a compromise with the instructor.

Carter really likes the pool and playing in the water. Oddly enough, he's more interested in being in the big pool than in the baby pool we have for him.



I'll finish with a funny story from this evening. Carter is a good eater in general, but it can be hard to get a lot of vegetables in him these days. (He could live entirely on fruit and bread.) Doug had a salad when he got home, and he sat on the couch to eat it. Carter was immediately interested and came over to beg for some. Doug gave him a piece of lettuce, and he ate it and kept coming back for more! When one of us is eating on the couch, we're usually eating a cookie or something sweet, so Carter seems to think the food eaten on the couch is the good stuff. Even if it's lettuce, something he would normally toss on the floor without even trying it.

So I guess we need to start eating broccoli on the couch. ;-)