Going on my daughter’s behaviour over the past few weeks, it is quite possible she has had some kind of close encounter with a spider MAYBE a radioactive one. Why would I think such a thing? Well, she has suddenly developed a superhuman ability to pull herself up and hold onto anything and everything, from windows to fridges and walls. It is like she has suction pads on her hands. Clearly the only explanation can be a brush with an Arachnid or my husband is in fact Spiderman. Either way she has, very rapidly, turned into Spiderkid.
Once upon a time the sofa may have proved a tricky obstacle to pull herself up to. Not any more. I have my back turned for a fraction of a second and suddenly she is up against the door of the fridge, banging on it with both hands. Sometimes she moves from the sofa to the wall, her arms up above her head, gingerly stepping sideways like she is standing upon the ledge of a very tall building. Then there are doors, she is up, like a cat, poised to climb, the keys tantalisingly dangling down – just out of her reach. When found in such a position she usually turns around at me, grinning, thinking ‘Ha, check me out. Look how CLEVER I am.’ She is certainly very pleased with her new found skill and so am I.
All of this, I have no doubt, is a precursor to her walking. She is much more confident on her feet now and has totally got the hang of the baby walker, going quite some distance with it. She is EVEN starting to shuffle her feet around it in order to steer in another direction.
Today, whilst casually standing with her hand brushed against the seat of the sofa, she momentarily took her hand away and was standing – on her own! Of course, after a couple of seconds she fell flat on her face. But, you know what, she didn’t cry, not a peep – despite falling onto a wooden floor. She has become a lot more robust recently. The other day she misjudged the door opening and banged her head on the edge of the door. Ouch. I cringed but kept quiet, waiting for wail to come. And it didn’t. It is then I realised how much she had toughened up (maybe being at nursery has helped). Whatever it is, radioactive spider or not, she is primed and ready to take on the next challenge, the next ‘villan’. She is, after all, Spiderkid.
Here’s what she has already conquered.
Stairs – Easy! Up them in a seconds rather than minutes, without a stumble
Bashing into doors – No problemo
Falling onto the floor- Whatever
Buggy – Why sit in it, when you can stand against it and have the power to move it around
Pillows – They are for crawling into as fast as possible, right? Followed by hysterical laughing and much some head rubbing
Vacuums – First it was ignored, then hated and now it is simply mocked as it is chased around and laughed at
Being dragged backwards by her legs on a slidy floor – LOVES it
