Stand-Up Routine

Yeah, no big deal, I’m just standing here examining this advertising circular. Just another day standing around. Did I mention I’m standing?

She’s been standing up all on her own for the last couple weeks. Finally got a picture this morning. She’s been standing for longer and longer periods, and she couldn’t be more pleased with herself. Just like when she started crawling. She laughs and claps. She’s getting more and more confident on her legs, and her sense of balance is improving by leaps and bounds. She can raise herself up from the floor without holding on to anything. She can crouch and squat. I’ve been most intrigued to observe she’s learning to fall more gracefully. She’s no longer as likely to smack her head on the floor. It made me realize how important that is to the whole process. Learning to stand is very much about learning to fall. And that reminded me of Laurie Anderson’s great lyric:

You’re walking. And you don’t always realize it, but you’re always falling. With each step you fall forward slightly. And then catch yourself from falling. Over and over, you’re falling. And then catching yourself from falling. And this is how you can be walking and falling at the same time.

So I wonder if she’ll be walking by her first birthday? It could happen any day now…