Scooting

Past are the days that I could put Ella on the floor and expect her to stay in one spot. Over the last two weeks, she has mastered the art of scooting around to reach objects anywhere on her level. She seems to be the most curious about spots or fuzz she sees on the the carpet. She lifts her little body up into a plank or push-up position, analyzes what it will take to get to her destination, and then pushes herself with her feet and hands, sliding on her belly. It's pretty cute when she really wants to go after something. There's no stopping her. We know that before long she'll be crawling around the apartment, which has caused us to jump into baby-proofing. Is it really that time already?

On Thanksgiving Day while we were at Grandpa & Grandma Olsen's, Ella had her first few real crawling movements. We - Grandpa & Grandma, Pete's sisters Kathryn & Kristin, and Pete & I - watched in amazement for at least 30 minutes while she got up on her hands and knees and sort of swayed forward without any actual movement. Then, she did it. I haven't seen too many more since then, but she's definitely getting around on her belly a whole lot faster than she was before. I think she experienced what it's like to be mobile and is going after more. Yikes. Crawling, which leads to walking, which leads to running. Get ready, Mom & Dad, things are going to get busy.

An example of her recent busyness: Yesterday morning, all in about 5 minutes time, Ella knocked over my glass of RED juice on the carpet, which I quickly tried to wipe up. While I was doing that, she went after a fresh bottle that didn't yet have a lid (in my haste, I left it on the floor by the couch) and tried to pull apart the milk pump. At that time I put her on her blanket with some toys in order to finish cleaning up. She quickly spit up on the blanket and some toys and immediately put her hands in it to play. This mom is learning what not leave in her little girl's reach.

She's also learning that it's best just to laugh.