Life's not running at a usual pace when you have a pre-toddler kid. Physical changes abound that it's either we keep a close watch to catch another key milestone coming or just stay near her to insure security. Crawling gave her an instant access to explore every corner of the house, especially the hidden treasures inside cabinets and drawers. Not to mention all the dirts and stuffs that she has to put in her mouth on each passage from one corner to the other. Almost all of the time, we are there to put some rules and define some limits without really depriving her of the freedom to explore around. With that, she actually mastered shaking her head even before we say NO. But she would nonetheless put the object in her mouth once we're out. Such a naughty girl.
Her new passion nowaday is to climb up and down the two-step stair that separates our living room from the rest of the house. Climbing up is not a problem. Going down is another story. At first, she would stop just before the stair, put her two hands on the middle step, push herself down then slowly transfer her hands one by one on to the last step. But her arms aren't strong enough to hold all her weight, so more often than not, I would find her head laid flat on the floor with the rest of her body still on the stairs. She would then push her body little by little till she's completely on the floor. All these fastidious efforts amuse her that she ends up laughing like a little girl not her age. She would then repeat climbing up and down till she's attracted to another activity.
This weekend, she realized that she could actually go down sitting. She would stop just before the stair, switch to sitting position which is quite dangerous because she does it at the very edge of the stair, then turn around so she could have her feet touching the middle step. She would then push her butt with the help of her feet. When she feels that she's sitting at the edge of the first step, she would slowly move down till she's sitting on the middle step. Same procedure for the next step. After such main d'oeuvre, she would look at me proudly like saying, 'I did it'.
During such time, we stay near her with a watching and approving eyes. We know that there's a risk of hurting herself but it's that way that she would learn to avoid it. Right now, she understood that she might hurt herself in climbing the stairs so she takes extra precaution herself without us teaching her how to do.
Last night, she was on her feet holding on a support while playing. I was behind her sitting, observing and waiting for cuddly moments. I then noticed that she was standing up without holding - she's standing on her own!. She's actually holding two building blocks in her two little hands and she stayed in that position for 3, 5 seconds. I guess we're in for another big adventure!
PS: The pictures were taken today, September 29. She just discovered the other stair, the more dangerous one. We better watch our guard.
PS2: Click on this link or on her photo album on the side bar to see more of her 10th month pictures.
