On the Move

From across the room, he spots me.


Just one short month ago, he would have only been able to look at me and grin. And maybe fuss if I was taking too long to pick him up.



But now he can take matters into his own hands. What began as rocking back and forth and face planting evolved into an almost Leap Frog maneuver...his hands staying still, but propelling himself forward by moving his knees. And now, Will has finally learned to move his legs AND his arms. He still does the Leap Frog maneuver the majority of the time, but we have seen him do a real, legitimate crawl on multiple occasions since his first official time 4 days ago (in front of two proud parents and one tearful mommy).
This kid gets around now.

"Not coming to get me? No worries. I'll come to you. Just give me a few minutes."


"See? Here I go."



"Well, hang on a second. What's this? Carpet, you say? It's incredible."

"Seriously amazing."


The only thing more distracting than carpet? Hailey. Will is absolutely fascinated by her.



I am temporarily forgotten as the standoff with Hailey begins.

Will begins to move closer to her, but Hailey is faster. And of course she put the moves on him.

After I broke up their kiss, Will seemed to remember I was his original destination.

And then remembered the carpet again.

"You know, Mom, you might want to consider putting the camera away and instead getting...oh, I don't know, a vacuum, maybe?"

"But that's OK...I know it's much more fun watching me than vacuuming."



"You ready? I'm ready."

He's got his game face on.



And he's on the move.



Closer...


...and closer. And so happy to see his mommy.


But perhaps even more excited to see Mommy's camera strap.


"Told ya I'd crawl over here."

"Being next to Mommy...good. Chewing on her camera strap...really good."


It's pretty amazing watching our almost 6 month old crawl around. And he loves the freedom to get down on the floor with his brothers, play with his toys, and investigate things like Matchbox cars, dogs, carpet, camera straps,

and chairs.



It's a whole new world for him. And he's got a lot of exploring to do.

Case Study

In a study conducted recently by a 33-year old mother, she determined that it is highly difficult (i.e. almost impossible) for 3 little boys to stay still and smile for a posed photograph.

A remarkable and shocking conclusion, I know. We're talking groundbreaking stuff here.

The researcher deduced that certain variables contributed to the difficulty of the task. For instance, the mood of the children ("Are we done yet? I want to be done!"),
their activity level (active 3-year olds do not prefer sitting motionless),
age (5-1/2 month olds do not yet understand the concept of "Smile at the camera...NOW!"),
and the effectiveness of bribery (which does not work at all with babies, and with certain 3-year olds, the question, "Can I have a brownie now?" is asked after every single picture.).
The subjects' cooperation was also directly proportional to their ignorance on subject matter such as lighting ("Let's hurry and get this picture done before it gets too dark!") and their mother's strong desire for a photo of her 3 sons together.

I've attached photographic documentation from the trials (and errors) of the study.







Let's not forget the sand hazard...

(No babies were harmed during this face plant.)

Fortunately, when the subjects were approached with a camera while in their element, and not being asked (i.e. told) to sit still and pose, the researcher found them much more willing to smile (genuine smiles at that) at the camera.

Another stunning revelation.














And so, the researcher was able to end her beach trip with photographs proving the subjects enjoyed themselves. The children's happiness and enjoyment was greatly pleasing to her and her research assistant, leading to cheesy smiles,


joyful leaps in the air,


and cartwheels** across the sand.


When we weren't forcing kids to smile for pictures, it was a wonderful time. And after all of those practice photos, a mother did end up with one picture she loves of her 3 sons.


We love our beach trips.


**OK, so maybe the cartwheel was to prove his athletic prowess to a wife who didn't believe he could do one. Even though it wasn't the prettiest cartwheel, the wife admitted defeat.