I now have a confident climbing baby!
Yep Dexter has been perfecting his kneeling and standing for the last few weeks. He’s been grabbing at his pushchair basket, pulling himself onto his knees, then using the footrest to get upright. It’s quite the achievement, and if his screams are anything to go by, he knows it.
As the gymnastics shown above involves a 2-tier climb (basket, then foot rest), we thought we’d have a few more weeks before he would manage to pull himself up using the coffee table or sofa - we were wrong. Having turned my back for a second yesterday, I found my little monkey on his feet clinging onto the table for dear life. His feet had slipped and he was suspended at a 45 degree angle. After some magic mummy cuddles I tried to encourage him to do it again safely - but he was too tired and needed to sleep off the experience.
2 hours later he was up again and mounting a skirmish across the lounge. Whilst preparing his toast I had my back turned again. Sure enough, he scaled the table once more - this time with more success. Returning to the lounge I found he’d emptied a tissue box, toppled our fruit basket, and was eating his way through some printer paper. Time to rearrange the lounge then!
Just like Bear Grylls, Dexter is also an expert forager. Favourites include cotton wool buds from mummy’s make-up bag, coal from the fire, receipts from my purse and the camera lens cap. A fireguard is no match for my son - he’s learnt pull it down to get to the black stuff. There’s nothing more horrific than finding your child with a mouth full of coal and black dribbles down his chin.
His adventures aren’t confined to home either. On Monday I took Dexter to his first ever mother and baby group. Held in church hall, there were clearly delineated zones for the children (aged 2 weeks to 3 years) to explore. Thinking we’d start with soft play, I plopped Dexter on a play mat and tried to introduce him to the other babies. He wistfully looked at the older kids charging around on Trunki’s and V-Tech walkers, then at looked at me as if asking permission.
He must have covered every inch of that hall floor - he was filthy when it was time to go home! Whether it was banging the plastic door of the mini kitchenette, chasing after the older kids, or batting around a plastic ball that had escaped the confines of the toddler zone - Dexter was in constant danger of being stepped on by the walking contingent of the class. Yet he never cried. Despite a toy pushchair being driven over his foot, a two-year old casually using his back as a stepping stone, and an older child wrenching a plastic ball from his grip - he was smiley as ever.
During lunch, he sat on a big boy chair and managed a few chunks of banana and some juice from a sippy cup with the older children. He wasn’t even fussed when an older child nicked his breadstick which was just millimetres from his mouth. At sing along time he was transfixed by the play leader. He clapped along at the right bits and looked made a new friend - a 8.5 month old named Lyla.
It’s definitely been a week of adventures for Dexter. He’s such a happy baby it’s so lovely seeing him interacting so beautifully with other children. I couldn’t be prouder of my little man.
