Ch..ch..ch...changes!

We are on the verge of embarking on a new chapter of Cooper's infanthood - he's trying like crazy to crawl! It is so fun to watch him. He's so determined. He is so excited. Then frustrated. You can tell he's been around all adults (and kids who walk) because of the way he is trying to crawl - it is like he is trying to stand up instead. He goes from sitting upright to being on all threes - yup, all threes and not all fours. One leg is caught in front of him or underneath him and he keeps wanting to put that foot flat on the floor and that ends up putting him right back into the sitting position. He's been doing that for a few days.

Then there was today...when he figured out that to move forward he needs to start out on all fours. But instead of going up on his knees and using them to move, he puts his toes to the floor and tries using them to propel him forward. He looks like a runner stretching their legs, one after the other. It really is hilarious and adorable. It even does move him forward. So far, getting to the dog is his biggest incentive. I haven't been spending any time deliberately encouraging him with physical milestones because I don't want to push him to do anything he's not ready to do and would rather see him experience things naturally when he's ready. But seeing him work so hard at it today and struggling to figure out what he should be doing, I got down on all fours myself and just crawled around him to show him what to do. He just laughed at me. The dog is his big incentive - he wants to get to her. Every time I see him trying to crawl he's either trying to get to the dog or trying to get to me. It's so cute.

I really do need to order those stair gates now (since I couldn't find ones that fit our stairwell in any stores in town) because I'm pretty sure he'll be motoring around here by next weekend when he turns 9 months old. ;)

I have the video camera on standby at all times - it would be so cool to catch the first real crawl on film. :)