scooter

Somehow we managed not to go totally insane yesterday, stuck in the house all day waiting for hurricane Irene to pass. We got rain all day and some strong winds but nothing remarkable. The biggest challenge was keeping Hurricane Molly from tearing the place apart.

Kate decided yesterday was a good time to work on moving around. First we noticed she was scooting backward. We knew that if you put her on a blanket she would, after immediately rolling onto her tummy, eventually scoot back a little. Yesterday she was doing it much faster -- as we watched!

Then I saw her rediscover rolling from tummy to back, something she did weeks ago and then seemed to forget (how many times have I had to get up in the night to find her crying because she's stuck on her tummy?). And she even rolled a little distance, back to tummy to back to tummy, across the exercise mat in the basement.

And finally, we saw her lift her whole torso off the floor (just for a second or two at a time). This is totally pre-crawling stuff. Yay!!!

Here's a somewhat long and boring video of me trying to catch her lifting her tummy off the floor.



Kate is also learning to sit a little bit. She'll sit unsupported for a while if she's on a soft surface (like a blanket in the grass) and if she's in the mood.

I just had to look up some of Molly's baby milestones for one of her preschool forms and I was surprised to find that Molly sat long before she rolled. So funny how babies tackle these early steps at different times. I have to say, even on the second time around, it's so amazing to watch a baby grow from floppy and immobile into a moving critter. This is really, really fun!

Molly trying baby shoes on her little sister.