Look Mom, No Hands!

Harmony has learned a new trick!

Eight months old and standing up!

For weeks, Harmony's been practicing this skill, especially in her high chair, which makes us all a bit nervous:

(and for those who actually watched the video -- I KNOW! We have now put her highchair on the floor, anchoring it by attaching it to the chair legs.) She also gets up pretty high on her knees, trying to be a part of everything around her:

But yesterday she spent a good part of the day grabbing onto my hands, pulling up, letting go, grinning, falling down, and grinning some more. She's absolutely pleased with herself, and so are we. She's not walking, but she's able to balance and stand without support! My kids have all been extremely active and seem to reach the moving milestones a bit early. I think their brains are just wired for early movement, though when Lillian started scooting at four months and walking at ten months, of course I was sure it was a sign of her intelligence (I know, those crazy first-time moms!). Since then, I've learned to appreciate the wondrous variety of both my own children and of those around me. For example, I have a friend whose six kids have always amazed me with how quickly they learn to talk. My own kids tend to be late talkers; I guess their brain focuses so much on movement that they don't even think to figure out how to speak. Just about every time I go to an 18 month doctor's appointment, the doctor will ask me if they're talking, and I'll say, "sure," then think to myself, "if you count moo, mom, dad, and meow, we're up to about ten words!" We're never anywhere close to the fifty words most 18-month-olds are supposed to know. My friend's kids, on the other hand, are always miles ahead of mine in their verbal skills. Our last few kids have been born about the same time. By the time they nearing their second birthday, we'll get the kids together and hers will be saying complete and complex sentences while mine are only saying simple words. It seems like every time I have a child reaching their second birthday, I start to worry (I even had Joey evaluated when he turned two because he talked so little. He turned out to be bright in every way except verbal skills. I know, I know, those nervous new moms!). Within a few months after their second birthday, however, they all seem to catch up and speak in sentences almost overnight. Which is my point, actually. My friend's kids? They don't do much moving around. They don't crawl on schedule and don't start walking until after fifteen months. I don't think my little movers are smarter than her little talkers, they're just different, all of them wonderful in their own little way. Wouldn't it be boring if every kid crawled, talked, and walked according to a set schedule? By the way, my earliest child on the standing up milestone was Sarah, who was just six months old when she balanced herself: Ironically, and adding to the discussion about the wondrous variety of God's children, she and Allison, her identical twin, started walking within a few days of each other, both at nine months. Here's a picture of nine-month-old Allison walking: We don't have any pictures of Sarah walking at that age because after a day or two, she decided it was too scary. She crawled around for three more months before deciding to let go, giggle like crazy, and walk: Aren't babies wonderful?