Big Girls Don't Cry

...unless, of course, they are learning how to stand up on their own, and they get too comfortable for a second, and then they fall to the ground (totally fine! no bumps or bruises)...then they DO start to cry a bit. I bet you were unaware that was all part of the hit song.

Celia has been making big strides recently. She army crawls all over the place, no matter the surface--grass, rug, concrete, whatever. She is a girl on the move. Like her brother a couple years ago, she seems to have no need for her knees when moving from point A to point B. He would lock his legs and crawl in a 4-point, tent-like stance; Celia goes the other way, and uses her arms to drag the rest of her body wherever she wants to go.

While this is normally fun to watch, Celia has also started to play a game called "crawl to the edge of high things" which has added a bit of danger to formerly routine diaper changes. The game goes like this: she needs a diaper change. I put her on the changing table. She flips over, thwarting my effort to change her. She army crawls to the edge of the table, where I catch her before she crawls off. She leans forward, head off the table, and bangs her hands on the side of the table and cackles with glee. It's a great game!

Apparently, this game is not enough to amuse her anymore, and she has decided that what she really wants is to be able to stand up. This all started a few days ago in her crib--she grabbed the side railing and pulled herself up so that she could see Andres do something typically loud, destructive, and apparently hysterical, as she was laughing the whole time she was watching. Ever since then she has tried to stand up in her crib, so Natalia had to lower the mattress the other day. No more standing in the crib.

Standing outside with the assistance of a red wagon, though, is still an option, so that's what she was doing today when she had her little (it really was little! she fell well, like her dad does 99% of the time when playing ultimate) fall. She was doing well before that little hiccup. She crawled over to the wagon, grabbed the edges, and then pulled herself all the way up to a standing position. She seemed so pleased with herself! Celia was even able to maintain this position for a minute or so before ambition got the better of her...she reached to grab the top of one of the seats, her hand slipped, and she tumbled down to the ground.

An overambitious 8-month old makes an unfortunate miscalculation

So now we have one very mobile child and one child who wants to be very mobile to keep up with her very mobile brother. Things are about to get interesting around here.

At the park after an afternoon of standing up. Not sure what kind of a look that is.