I Can’t Stand It

So, looking back at some of the blogs, I can see how Finley has developed over the past nine months. It’s really amazing how quickly it seems to all have happened. But the past two weeks or so have seen quite spurt in ability for our little miss.

As I mentioned last week, Finley has figured out how to pull herself up to a standing position, which is great developmentally, but a bit crazy for us. And as each day goes by, our little daredevil is becoming more and more confident with her newfound ability.

More and more often you can find her looking for the next tall thing to help hoist her up to her full 2’-5” frame. It’s just a quick crawl to a nearby barstool and with one hand grasping, she pulls herself up to her knees. After the obligatory look around for the parents – We haven’t decide, yet, if this is to see if we are watching or to see if she can get away with something – she grabs with the other hand and ever-so-slowly pulls up to her feet.

More often than not, her legs are a part quite a bit, so she has to think about her next move. Watching her face as her little brain processes what to do next is interesting; she knows she has to do SOMETHING to make this situation more comfortable, but what is it? And as if she is a rock climber on a sheer face, she slowly moves her leg to a better position then looks to see what her next move will be.

This is where things get a bit precarious. Without a net, the Amazing Finderella lets go with one hand and swings back to see if we are paying attention. And before she can lose her balance, she grabs right back onto the leg of the stool.

A few moments later, after she’s caught her breath from that first tiring routine, she lets go with the OTHER hand. Once she is met with parental approval, the hand deftly snatches the safety of the barstool leg, again.

But, this last move has tired her out and she begins to realize that she has neither the leg nor hand strength to keep this up. Her legs begin to give way and she clutches even tighter to the leg. Panic begins to set in. She looks down. The ground is at least a foot below her heavily padded bottom. A whimper of fear and then, PLOP! It’s a safe landing on the seat of her Huggies™.

Of course, there are the times where it’s not quite a perfect landing and she ends up on her side or face-plants the carpet. There is usually crying involved but I think it’s more because it scares her than that it hurts.

Most of the time she’ll gaze up at the lofty heights at which she just descended then slowly lay herself down on her side for a moment of rest and reflection. Then it’s over and up for another try.
Each attempt becomes a bit more daring. This weekend at the home of some friends, she worked her way up the side of a toy and proceeded to figure out that if she put her weight into the toy, she could let go with both hands. And as long as she kept her balance, both hands could be used to play with the top of the toy. Getting down still seems to be a bit of a concern. But once she figures out she has such a short distance to go, I don’t think that will be much of a problem.

The most interesting thing of all about her ascents is how she is learning to move her legs and feet to help with balance and position. This is making her legs stronger and, in her little way, teaching her what her legs are for. Up until the past few weeks, they were either part of some random yoga move she invented, the things that got her toes to her mouth or the place the doctor likes to stick those mean old needles.

Now, like the arms and hands before, her legs are developing into a critical part of her body. Once she learns to work all of these limbs together, she will be able to properly run away from us.

This Sunday, Finley will turn 9 months old. She’s gone from this little wriggling mass of skin to a fairly dexterous human child. In just the past month, she’s begun the first step of turning her babbles into words and is close to joining the upright monkeys in the evolutionary chain.

As amazed as I am at all of the things I have seen, it’s hard to believe there is even more to come. Finley is not only opening my eyes to the miracle of watching her develop, she’s opening my eyes to how truly remarkable being human is. All of the things we take for granted… walking, talking, eating… we had to learn. And we keep learning, whether we know it or not.

So, thanks to Finley, I get to learn as she does. She gets the basics, and I get to see the human brain and body in action. That’s a lot to learn in 9 months… For the both of us!