Milestone Report: Taking A Scenic Route

Crawling

On December 14, 2006, Erik officially knows how to crawl!! So exciting to see!! For the past two months, Erik has been somewhat mobile in his own way. Mummy likes to say that Erik is just taking a scenic route to his destination instead ;o). Instead of crawling, Erik would scoot on his bottom, then lay on his stomach to stretch out, after that, it would be rolling from side to side, and then some how some way, he would get to where he wants to go. So really, he's not a point A to point B type of guy. He likes to go from point A, to point D, to point C, ...sometimes back to point A but somehow, he always manages to go to point B ;o) hahahaha

However, last night was totally different! Erik crawled straight for his target! We have one of those Japanese fortune cat that constant waves its arms on top of the fireplace. It had always made Erik curious what it was so we brought it down and placed it just far enough out of reach to see if he would go for it. And he DID! It was just amazing on how focus he was to get that cat! LOL! I guess he's been wanting to play with it for a while.

Although he doesn't crawl the conventional way yet, Erik has pretty much discover mobility for himself! Erik crawls with his right leg while his left leg is just kinda tucked underneath his butt. It is the cutest thing!! It's a half-sit, half-crawl. LOL! We're so proud of you our darling little baby boy!

Cruising

For the past month, Erik can also pull himself up to be in a standing position. Whether it is our couch or our bed (we've lowered our bed by not putting the bed rail in), he loves to stand! However, for the last week, Erik has also discovered how to CRUISE along as he holds himself up. He takes a step or two all by himself along the couch or bed and totally loves it! Erik also impressed his favorite teacher "Christy" on how he can hold and walk around the bookshelf at school!

Sometimes when Daddy or Mummy is holding Erik's hands, he gets so excited that he wants to start walking / running! It's just amazing how he has figured how to do all these things. It's simple to us adults but to a baby its not that simple. The act of pulling yourself up takes lots of muscles and then the act of letting yourself plop down on the floor without hurting yourself takes a lot of balance and effort too!

Way to go Erik!!! YAY Erik! You did it! You thought it through and figured out be mobile in your own schedule and time!

Signing

Mummy have been diligently signing to Erik ever since we brought him home from the hospital. Erik still doesn't really sign yet but he definitely knows what the signs mean when we show him. Daddy has been also signing to him so it helps a lot to be consistent.

So far, we can tell that Erik understands the following for sure because he shows us emotionally that he expects it:

• Milk - sometimes I think Erik does sign this but I can't say for sure yet!
• Up (we say Up Up when we carry him)
• Eat
• Water
• Daddy
• Where/What

It's great sometimes to sign to Erik so he knows what to expect and not be too "surprised" when we give it to him. For example, when he's playing and we want to pick him up, we sign "Up" and sometimes he'll ignore us cuz he wants to continue playing, which is fine. Other times, he is sooo excited as if saying "why didn't you say so sooner?" that he'll raise his arms high in the air ready to be picked-up.

We've been doing the following now but we don't think Erik really knows it yet:

• Mommy
• More
• All Done
• Bath
• Play
• Duck
• Book

Mummy and Daddy are going to continue with the signing and see if Erik will respond back. From what we understand, it may take up to 12-18 months before Erik starts signing back so we'll see!