For the past few months, ever since James learned to crawl, we have been slowly trying to teach him how to get down off our bed safely. He's so fast now that we're worried we won't be able to catch him to make sure he doesn't launch himself headfirst into the ground, so we've stepped up our efforts over the last couple of weeks. We decided to let him crawl to the edge, then tell him to stop and turn around, and then guide him down. For the first time yesterday he showed us that not only does he understand what we're asking him to do, he understands how to do it, and he will listen to us and actually do it. Success! We nearly cried realizing that this is just the first of many useful things we'll be able to teach him (OK, I did cry, a little). Getting him to imitate our actions (like waving, clapping, and giving-five, all of which he can do when he WANTS to) is fun, but this is by far more satisfying:
Not to mention, it's awfully cute to watch him pause at the end of the bed and slowly tap a leg forward over the edge like he's testing the water before he trusts himself to swing around and slide down. Hooray for James, and hooray for safety!
No comments:
Post a Comment