If I Can Just Hold on to the Keys a Little Longer

The Voice From the Crib
Help, I’m standing & I Can’t sit Down… Ten minutes has passed and T. is standing in his crib and crying in frustration again. I had been moving around the room performing my usual duties while watching him crawl around in the crib in circles and cooing before finally grabbing hold of the side rail and pulling himself into a standing position. In my mind I cheered and cried at the same time. The first time I saw T. do this on his own I was tickled with joy and called his mom. It had only taken the day before to show him how to do this and now I (sometimes) want to kick myself. Within the past two weeks the poor little fellow has learned to crawl and pull himself into a standing position. Yeah, he’s mobile. The down fall to all of this is that he can now stand, but can’t get down. My job this week has been to be the rescuer. T. crawls to the nearest sturdy object, pulls himself up to balance on his fat little knees before standing on his little flat feet. Happily cheering, crowing at the top of his lungs and banging on his support system until he realizes he is tired of standing and wants to get down. Then he cries. So I rescue him by helping him to bend his knees and sit down. He smiles at me and crawls away. He crawls under the other cribs, talking and laughing until he forgets to duck his head when coming out. He cries. I rescue him and he scuttles off to find the nearest sturdy object. I guess you can say my mantra is this…rescue, release, and repeat. Babies are so funny while exploring their surroundings and abilities.